Page 28 - EducationWorld September 2020

Institution Profile

Avasara Academy, Pune

Affiliated with the UK-based Cambridge International, Avasara is a need-blind class
VI-XII day-cum-boarding school for meritorious girl children from socio-economically
disadvantaged communities

DIPTA JOSHI
ESTLED IN THE AZURE
green Lavale valley, 10
km from Pune (pop.7
Nmillion), Maharashtra’s
second-largest city, is Avasara
Academy (estb.2015), a unique class
VI-XII day-cum-boarding school
for meritorious girl children from
socio-economically disadvantaged
communities. Affiliated with the
UK-based Cambridge Assessment
International Education, Avasara
is a need-blind admissions school,
i.e, it admits students on merit and
provides means-tested scholarships
to girls who need them. Students are
selected through a rigorous entrance
process and taught a unique leader-
ship, entrepreneurship and Indian
studies (LEI) curriculum.
R
Founded by oop a P u ru s h o -
th a m a n , chief economist and head
of policy advocacy at Tata Sons Ltd,
the Mumbai-based holding company
of the transnational Tata Group
(annual revenue: Rs.792,710 crore
(2018-19)) and her US-born edu- Avasara Academy cafeteria. Inset: Purushothaman & Cubas
cationist husband os e p h C u b a s ,
J
Avasara’s mission statement is “to with Goldman Sachs, London and of Bombay (ASB), to promote a
empower girls of promise to lead achieved international fame for “leadership and educational academy
lives of distinction and impact”. Cur- co-authoring a 2003 investment to educate girls of exceptional prom-
rently the school has an enrolment research report predicting grow- ise for a lifetime of leadership and
of 393 girl children mentored by 31 ing global power for BRIC (Brazil, contribution to society”. IT major
teachers. Russia, India and China) nations by TCS was the first institutional donor
“We have designed a well-round- 2050. In 2006, she moved to India to which funded the school’s three-sto-
ed curriculum with special emphasis work with Everstone Capital, a well- rey building in suburban Pune that
on stimulating intellectual curios- reputed private equity and real estate now also hosts the TCS Centre for
ity and developing academic skills investment firm. Simultaneously, Entrepreneurship. This was quickly
required to succeed in world-class alarmed by research data highlight- followed by generous grants from
universities. Our goal is for Avasara ing poor learning outcomes and other corporates that have funded
girls to develop the vision and skills low societal status of adolescent girl the academy’s Nishar Centre for
required to become entrepreneurs, children and women in India, she Leadership, Godrej Library, Oberoi
public change-makers and corporate became deeply interested in women’s Hall, Honeywell Center for Advanc-
leaders. The school’s unique LEI cur- education and began collaborating ing Girls in Science, and the Mittal
riculum prepares every Avasara stu- with NGOs such as Akanksha and Centre for India Studies.
dent to confront the most pressing Teach for India (TFI), and conduct- The school’s Founders Circle
challenges in their own lives, their ing after-school classes and science comprises highly respected leaders of
country, and around the world,” says camps for socio-economically disad- India Inc including N. Chandrasek-
Purushothaman. vantaged girl children. aran, chairman, Tata Sons; Nisaba
An alumna of the globally In 2015, she teamed up with Godrej, executive chairperson, Go-
high-ranked Yale University, USA husband Joseph Cubas, a fellow Yale drej Consumer Products; Saurabh
and London School of Economics, alum and director of institutional Mittal, founder, Mission Holdings;
Purushothaman began her career advancement at the American School Atul Nishar, chairman, Hexaware

28 EDUCATIONWORLD SEPTEMBER 2020