azim premji

Azim Premji Foundation is a not for profit organization formed 9 years ago and is funded single handedly by him. It is established with a vision to contribute to systemic changes in Indian education that facilitates a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. Active since 2001, the Foundation has engaged with over 2.5 million children in 20,000 schools across 13 States through a dedicated workforce of over 250 professionals and hundreds of paid volunteers Premji is amongst those rare breeds of Asian entrepreneurs who put their wealth for philanthropic use.

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths.
The second lesson I have learnt is that a Rupee earned is of far more value then five found.
The third lesson I have learnt is that no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning.
The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility.
The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence.
The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity.
The seven lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change, & do not compromise on your values.
And the final lesson learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong.

The educational philosophy behind the Azim Premji University is based on three key principles.Firstly, the University nurtures and encourages exemplary standards of teaching, learning and research. The learning programmes of the University therefore focus on building depth of understanding, capacity for inter disciplinary learning and research, analytical skills, critical thinking and communication in an atmosphere of academic freedom and integrity.Secondly, the Universitys agenda continues to be guided by its larger purpose of social change. Hence the University strives to develop a deep understanding of the social impact of education and its role in creating awareness of the wider political and ethical issues in debates on development and policy.

Two key principles guide the process of the Universitys continued evolution. Firstly, the University exists to make significant contributions to education in a manner consistent with social justice, equity, humane values and sustainability within the framework of a secular and democratic Indian polity. This commitment to a specific value orientation is not to be interpreted as a narrowly utilitarian view of the University and is at all times, consistent with academic and institutional autonomy and excellence.Secondly, the University, though constituted as an independent entity, is organizationally continuous with Azim Premji Foundation and integral to its vision. This intimate and unusual linking of the two organizations creates valuable synergies. The close working of the University with the Foundation and its practice informs all learning and research programmes. The Foundation and its teams in turn gain from the interaction with a vibrant academic community that contributes rigour and focus to the field of practice.

Azim Premji Foundation is a not for profit organisation that has been working for more than a decade now towards making deep, large scale and institutionalised impact on the quality and equity of education in India, along with related development areas. Any large scale educational change requires significant and sustained effort over many decades and can only be achieved through working at multiple levels as well as on several areas simultaneously. The Foundation today works in 8 states which together have more than 3,50,000 schools. Key aspects of its work are as follows.

Azim Premji Foundation works in collaboration with State Governments and engages with teachers, teacher educators, head teachers, block and cluster level education officials, senior government functionaries and policy makers at the state and national level.

The Foundation has State Institutes in the capitals of select Indian states and several District Institutes within these states, each having dedicated teams. The work of the State and District Institute is institutional in nature, recognising that long term and consistent engagement is necessary for educational change. These Institutes work at the grass root level, closely engaging with the government education system. The range of work they do spans capacity building of teachers, head teachers and other functionaries at the district level and state level. It also involves work on curriculum, assessment, educational leadership and management, policy issues and advocacy at the state level.The Foundation, today, has institutes that are located at Karnataka (Bangalore, Yadgir, Mandya and Gulbarga), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Sirohi, Tonk, Barmer and Rajsamand), Uttarakhand (Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Udham Singh Nagar and Almora), Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur and Dhamtari), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal) and Puducherry.At many of the District Institutes, schools have been established for the specific purpose of demonstration. These schools provide quality free education to the local community, at costs and constraints similar to that of rural government schools.

The social sector today offers a variety of exciting career opportunities for students, with a desire to contribute to the overall development of the country. Growing public investment, landmark legislations like the Right to Education Act and large government programmes like NREGA, NRLM etc., and the increasing participation of NGOs from policy making to implementation and monitoring, call for talented professionals in large numbers. In addition, innovative social entrepreneurs are needed to ideate, create and implement path breaking solutions to social problems.Students can look forward to fulfilling roles in organisations that engage in grassroots work in the field. They can also look forward to roles in academia, policy think tanks, politics, government programmes, multilateral agencies etc., corporate social responsibility departments of companies, funding organisations and the media.

The mission of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values. These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the professions history, are the foundation of social works unique purpose and perspective: service social justice dignity and worth of the person importance of human relationships integrity competence.

Azim Hasham Premji, founder of Wipro Limited, Indias biggest and most competitive IT company based in Bangalore, was born on July 24th 1945 in Bombay. Premji was forced to leave his studies in computer science from Stanford University, California, USA at the age of 21 to take over the family business of vegetable oils when his father M.H. Premji, suddenly passed away in 1966. He has since after a gap of over thirty years completed his degree in Electrical Engineering.The Amalner-based vanaspathi manufacturing company, the Western India Vegetable Product later became Wipro Products Ltd, Wipro Technologies and Wipro Corporation. Under Premjis leadership Wipro embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion and diversification. The Company began manufacturing light bulbs with General Electric and other consumer products including soaps, baby care products, shampoos, powder etc. In 1975, Wipro Fluid Power business unit manufacturing hydraulic cylinders and truck tippers was started. But Premjis ambitions did not stop there. In the 1980s Wipro entered the IT field, taking advantage of the expulsion of IBM from the Indian market in 1975. Thus, Wipro became involved in manufacturing computer hardware, software development and related items, under a special license from Sentinel. As a result, the $1.5 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats grew within a few years to a $662 million diversified, integrated corporation in services, medical systems, technology products and consumer items with offices worldwide.

The companys IT division became the world