Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of Canada is a registered Canadian charity engaged in the education of tribal, indigenous children in rural India and Nepal. Ekal runs over 90,000 schools that help educate 2.6 million children in rural, remote parts of India. It is the largest grassroots movement for rural education in the world.

The Ekal movement aims to eradicate illiteracy from tribal areas of India and Nepal through rural development based on the criteria of equality, diversity and inclusion across all sections of society whether Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist or any other community. Ekal's mission is the holistic empowerment of villages through basic education, culture, digital literacy, skill development, health awareness, modern and sustainable agricultural practices, poverty relief seva and rural entrepreneurship. Ekal Vidyalaya is a people's movement based on the concept of social, international economic aid, gender equality and women empowerment in South Asia. A contribution of CAD $500 helps run one Ekal school for an entire year, educates 30 children and has a positive impact on 30 rural families.

Ekal Foundation in numbers (present day):-

92,175 schools in rural and tribal areas

2,639,821 total students

1,316,096 boys are currently enrolled

1,323,725 girls are currently enrolled

At the time of independence, India’s literacy rate was a staggering 11%. Since then, it has made tremendous strides in educating its people. Present day, the literacy rate stands at 68% for the indigenous and rural Indian population - well below the world average literacy rate of 84%. The tribal inhabitants live in remote areas, far from major cities. Those areas are highly deprived of basic amenities, modern facilities for youth and even basic infrastructure. In this scenario, the Ekal movement emerged as the most pragmatic solution to this national need.

So whether it is a birthday fundraiser or Giving Tuesday or a workplace employee giving campaign, or whether you are using Benevity, Go Fund Me, United Way, CanadaHelps, Charitable Impact as a platform to donate - keep our non-profit top of mind for its sewa work at the grassroots level with indigenous and rural communities in Bharat. Ekal welcomes donors as well as volunteers to join us in this noble cause. We have regional chapters located in Toronto (GTA), Vancouver, Mississauga, Winnipeg, Calgary, Brampton, Edmonton, Regina, London, Sarnia, Kingston, Windsor, Ottawa etc.

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of Canada was registered as an Ontario Corporation in 2006 and attained Canadian charitable status in 2007. Ekal is now active in over 10 countries including the United States of America, Germany, France, Italy, UAE, New Zealand, Thailand, United Kingdom and Australia.  CRA Charity Registration Number is 853421162RR0001. Should you have any questions as a first time donor or volunteer, please email the Ekal Canada team at evfcanada@ekal.ca