History
The Foundation was formally established on 9 March 2001 (under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act of 1956). Since then, Azim Premji has contributed a substantial portion of his wealth to create a philanthropic endowment, valued at approximately INR 2,40,000 crore (USD 29 billion) as of January 2023. This endowment serves as the financial corpus supporting the Foundation’s various initiatives.
Our inception can be traced back to elaborate discussions between Azim Premji and Dileep Ranjekar, our founding CEO. These conversations culminated in a white paper that laid the groundwork for the Foundation’s mission. Through careful consideration of various developmental issues, primary education emerged as the focal point for the Foundation’s efforts. We recognise education as a pivotal challenge with far-reaching implications to address social and economic inequities and this continues to define our journey.
From the very beginning, we have collaborated with the government by leveraging existing systems and introducing effective, scalable and replicable models of change. We value the quality of good teacher education as a means of ensuring better learning outcomes for students.
Through various programmes and interventions within the government school system, we continue to support educators and others associated with teaching in their endeavour to improve and expand their knowledge and skills.