Azim Premji University

Established in 2010, the Azim Premji University is founded and sponsored by the Azim Premji Foundation. The University is a philanthropic, not- for profit institution with a clear social purpose, of contributing towards a just, humane, equitable and sustainable society. For this the University is focused on offering programs and conducting research in Education and related areas of Human Development. The University currently offers two programs: a Masters in Education and a Masters in Development. These two programs have multiple specializations e.g. in Education Management, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Health and Nutrition, Public Policy and Law & Governance. Other specializations like Early-childhood-education, Special Education, and Sustainability will be introduced over the next few years. The University will also start offering an Undergraduate program from July 2015. The students from the second batch, who were conferred with the degrees today, are already working with various social sector organizations across the country, having completed the program in May 2014. While the first batch which graduated in 2013 had 85 students, the second batch that was conferred their Post Graduate degrees had 125 students. In the current academic year there are around 600 students at the University campus, across the third and fourth batch. The University has over 100 members of the Faculty. The University is deeply committed to diversity and to offering equal opportunity to students from disadvantaged backgrounds: around 50% of students at the university come from rural areas and small towns of India, 50% of the students are women and over 50% of the students are offered financial support. The University also engages significantly with capacity development of professionals working in the education department and in departments such as health and rural development of the Government.