Overview

Going to School is a non profit trust based in New Delhi, India that makes media for children to make going to school relevant to their lives and most importantly lots of fun. . GTS raises funds to create educational media for underprivileged children in India. GTS media shows children, through inspiring examples, how they can make their education work for them, their families and communities; addressing the core social needs of education, employment, gender equity and equal opportunities for all. GTS develops the concept, finds stories & creates media in regional languages: from books to movies, curriculum to music. All proceeds from the sale of GTS media are re-invested by the trust in the development of more educational media for children.

Mission

Going to School (GTS) is a non-profit trust that creates media for children to make going to school relevant to their lives & most importantly, lots of fun. GTS raises funds to create media for underprivileged children in India. GTS partners with organizations where there is a potential for systemic change towards improving quality of education & reaching out to most vulnerable. GTS works with public/private sector to ensure that the media reaches millions of children across India free of cost.

History

GTS’ journey began with Going to School in India a children’s book that celebrates what school can be from going to school in a tent in the middle of a mud desert to going to school in the dark.
Going to School in India, the children’s book, was published in India & the USA. 500,000 GTS mini-books were distributed to Government schools free of cost reaching an estimated 5 million children across India.
Going to School then worked on Girl Stars. Girl Stars are extraordinary tales of women and girls who have changed their lives by going to school. From Anita the Beekeeper to Kiran the Junkyard Dealer, Girl Stars is a series of 15 movies, 15 books and 15 Radio episodes that creates icons out of everyday women and girls.
Going to School, supported by UNICEF, created Girl Stars.

Program

Going to School in India, a children’s book, featuring 25 stories about going to school in India
Going to School In India - a series of 10 mini books in regional languages of India to reach children all over India
GTS movies - 9 films screened on national television and dubbed in regional languages
Girl Stars - extraordinary stories of ordinary girls who have changed their lives by going to school.
A series of 15 movies, 15 books and 15 part radio series. The books were distributed to government schools, films were screened on national television and radio series would be broadcast on national radio.
GTS is currently working on the project BE! an Entrepreneur. Be! aims to inspire millions of young people from low-income groups to choose to become
entrepreneurs and to create businesses that solve the social, economic and environmental problems
they face in their lives.
Be! is a large-scale multimedia movement of stories - 13 epic movies, 50 books & a 30 part radio series. Be! creates 50 epic stories to solve the top 50 issues that India will have to deal with in the next five years – from waste-management to education, health care to renewable energy - Be! makes young people realize they already have the skills they need to be able to create sustainable business models that change the world.

Impact

Going to School in India, the series of mini books were translated in Oriya and 450,000 copies were printed and distributed to 45,000 government schools in Orissa reaching 5 million children. Going to School movies were also dubbed in Oriya and 600 CDs of the films were distributed to 600 government schools in Orissa – and the series was also aired on Doordarshan.
Girl Stars, was seen by an estimated 700 million people across India. Created by Going to School and supported by UNICEF, Girl Stars movies were aired on Doordarshan and National Geographic and the books were distributed widely through government schools.
Be! media will reach an estimated 100 million young people over the next five years
through national television networks, government schools and radio networks.
Be!’s target audience is children age 10-16 in Government schools, children who are part of non-formal education programs and children who are out of school. Be!’s unique mix of media, books, movies and radio, means that over 100 million children will see, read, and listen to Be! media in many different ways.
Be! will also reach parents, teachers and those who make decisions in children’s lives.

Goals

Going to School is currently working on the project Be! an Entrepreneur. The goals for this project for this year are -
- Research in nine states across India covering 700 children through interviews and workshops to understand what Be! media must communicate to millions of children across India.
- Search for 50 Be! business models the stories of which could be told through Be! media
- Completion of 15 part Girl Stars radio series
- Broadcast of Girl Stars radio series on radio channels across the country.

CEO

Lisa Heydlauff a British-American woman, educated in England, America and Canada, spend seven years living in India, and nine months visiting schools all over India, writing stories about children?
For Lisa, the answer is simple: India is not a transit point. It is home. And yet her stories are not just for Indian children – they are for children anywhere, everywhere. Children who want to know more about children in other countries, other cultures. When Lisa taught seven year olds in the UK, Oliver, who never found going to school very easy, asked her, "What is it like to go to school in India?" Lisa looked for books to answer Oliver's question and found nothing at that time that would satisfy Oliver's curiosity or her own. And so she promised Oliver that if she ever went to India, she would let him know.
When Lisa first came to India, she worked for a magazine, then with UNICEF traveling and writing stories. Wouldn’t it be amazing, she thought, if she could write stories about children, for children, because then you would really have a chance to change the world – or at least, what children think of the world.
And so the idea behind Going To School began, GTS is a celebration of what school can be: "Going to School is the shared experience through which we can begin to understand each other... we all get to school in some way, we all have similar hopes and dreams. If, through this common place you open up a world of possibility, well, you’ve just made the foreign, familiar."
Lisa’s vision is breathtaking in its simplicity and its scale. Going to School Fund was founded for this dream, to make media for children that shows going to school can be relevant to their lives and fun.

Board

Hemant Khandelwal
Gautam Vohra
Chander Lal

Countries

India

Contact

12338 MAILY MEADOWLANE
SUGARLAND, TX 77478-6170
Phone: 91-11-41739945
www.goingtoschool.com
EIN: 05-0574837


Countries and Regions

Education

Going to School

A set of 10 mini books

Dasra

Regular price $15.00

From Going to School in a Tent to Going to School in the Dark, GTS continues with mini books in regional languages to reach millions of children across Inida. GTS media works to increase enrollment & awareness; improve quality of education; celebrate diversity & inspire change.


Girl Stars Books

A Set of 15 Books

Dasra

Regular price $20.00

Girl Stars is a multi-media campaign communicating to girls age 10-16 about the importance of going to school and staying in school. Girl Stars creates ‘icons’ out of everyday young women and girls from underprivileged backgrounds who have changed their lives by completing their education. Girl Stars stories aim to inspire millions of girls from under privileged backgrounds age 10-16 years to complete their education...


MusicVideo Campaign

Promote Girl Education

Dasra

Regular price $4,990.00

The gift will support the creation of the Girl Stars Music Video to inspire millions of girls in India to complete their education. The music video is part of the award winning Girl Stars multi-media campaign (movies, books, radio series) which creates icons of everyday women who have changed their lives by going to school. Girl Stars are true stories of 15 women from disadvantaged...


Girl Stars DVD

15 films - 7.30 mins

Dasra

Regular price $25.00

Girl Stars is a multi-media campaign communicating to girls age 10-16 about the importance of going to school and staying in school. Girl Stars creates ‘icons’ out of everyday young women and girls from underprivileged backgrounds who have changed their lives by completing their education. Girl Stars movies aim to inspire millions of girls from under privileged backgrounds age 10-16 years to complete their education...