The Viswa Bharati Vidyodaya Trust (VBVT) is a community-based organisation working with the Bettakurumba, Kattunayakan, Mullakurumba, and Paniya Adivasi communities in the Nilgiris since 1995, reimagining education as a path to dignity, identity and possibility.
All four communities are recognised by the Government of India as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), reflecting both the depth of their Indigenous heritage and the systemic disadvantages they continue to face. […] VBVT’s work is not just about education; it is about reclaiming space, identity, and future. It is part of a larger arc of transformation, led by the community, towards a future rooted in justice and equity for their coming generations. | Learn more: https://www.vidyodaya.org/vbvt/
From an organisation standpoint, all key roles across VBVT’s Trustees, Coordination Team and Advisors are now filled. The Chief Functionary, the Managing Trustee and over 80% of VBVT’s team and board are now Adivasi.
Why: VBVT works to change the way education relates to Adivasi children, placing identity, culture and community ownership at the heart of learning, so their languages, values and ways of life are respected while they build the skills to navigate the wider world.
How: The approach blends formal and informal learning through schools, hostels, village centres, camps and teacher education, led by Adivasi teachers and youth trained as facilitators.
For 30 Years, This Nilgiris Forest School Has Used Local Culture to Educate Adivasi Children
At Vidyodaya School in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris, Adivasi children from PVTG communities learn through forests, culture, and mother tongue–based teaching instead of rote textbooks. Run with strong community involvement, the school blends ecology, local food knowledge, arts, and traditions into the curriculum while supporting first-generation learners with free education and holistic care. Read the full article by Krystelle Dsouza on TheBetterIndia >>
collaborative YouTube channel: Kaathadi >>
Success stories from Vidyodaya in Gudalur >>
More resources for the classroom >>
“I would urge you not to treat the issue of human rights in isolation and pay equal attention to nursing Mother Nature which is deeply wounded by the indiscretions of human beings.” – Droupadi Murmu | Speeches by the President of India >>
“Of all living creatures in the world, man has his vital and mental energy vastly in excess of his need, which urges him to work in various lines of creation for its own sake […] Life is perpetually creative because it contains in itself that surplus which ever overflows the boundaries of the immediate time and space.” – Rabindranath Tagore: “The Religion of an Artist in The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore Vol 3 by Sisir Kumar Das (ed.), New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi 2006, pp. 687-8 and quoted by Pulak Dutta (p. 97) in: Santiniketan Birth of Another Cultural Space (free e-book)