Abstract

The case elaborates on Indian business tycoon, investor, and philanthropist Azim Premji’s (Premji) philanthropic initiative – the Azim Premji Foundation (APF) – which envisioned transforming the Indian primary education sector. In 2001, Premji through his foundation, APF, started taking initiatives to fulfill the goal. The case discusses the vision, strategies, and programs that drove the change. It describes APF’s efforts to accomplish the change in three broad phases of implementation, elaborating on the objectives, initiatives, and challenges that shaped each phase. Phase I, where APF played a facilitator’s role in bringing about the change, elucidates the early interventions of APF and the various challenges and lessons that resulted in Phases II and III. The case also throws light on the persona of Azim Premji – the values, beliefs, principles, and practices which shaped him into a successful entrepreneur and a passionate philanthropist. The case shares a few reminiscences from Premji’s early life that laid the foundation for his leadership style. Premji, who signed the ‘Giving Pledge’– a global declaration to give away a substantial amount of one’s wealth to charity – worked relentlessly to transform the Indian primary education sector. However, the task was a mammoth one and the road ahead was replete with challenges – systemic, administrative, involving people, etc. Though the primary education sector in India attracted substantial donor interest, it was known for the low quality of its outcomes due to inherent problems. While Premji along with his associates worked relentlessly toward the mission, how far they would succeed in achieving the ambitious targets remained to be seen.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Appreciate the unique challenges that India faces in providing education to all children, irrespective of their gender, economic status, or location.
• Analyze APF’s strategy to bring about a transformation in the primary education sector in India and evaluate the results achieved.
• Draw up an action plan for APF to overcome the challenges it faces and scale up its activities.
• Apply the principles of change management to APF’s efforts to transform the primary education sector in India.
• Prepare a framework to assess the social impact of APF’s efforts on the education sector.

Keywords

Wipro; Azim Premji; Azim Premji Foundation; Philanthropy ; Social Initiatives; Learning Guarantee Program; Primary Education ; Child Friendly School Initiative; Digital Learning; Social innovation; Social impact; Computer Aided Learning Program; Alternative Technology Experiment; Education Leadership Development Program