About Us – Open Inc

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why this mission?

In a free society, the standard of living for all depends on educating and empowering all citizens.

How we select partner schools for our efforts

We talk to individual school principals and teachers and attempt to find leaders who are highly motivated in improving the lot of their pupils, and who take ownership of their schools. Local educators who look at their work as more than just another job are of huge significance in making sure that our efforts and money are not wasted.

How we propose to fulfill our mission

Accomplish two or more projects every year – infrastructural (building classrooms etc), individual (providing school fees, books, uniforms), or both, at government schools. Attempt to increase the general knowledge, vocational training, and physical education curricula at our partner schools.

How we fund projects in India

We ask our partner schools to get quotes from several vendors for projects that they would like funded, and pick the best combination of price and quality from the lot.

Expenditure mix

We plan to spend roughly 1/3rd of our funds on infrastructure, 1/3rd on scholarships, and 1/3rd on vocational training, coaching classes etc. These proportions will evolve as we better understand what works and what doesn’t.

How we fund these activities?

By raising money from friends and people of like mind.
By organizing fund raising events among the general public.

How we make ourselves accountable to our contributors

By keeping our contributors informed with twice-yearly updates.
By publishing year-end financial summaries of contributions received and monies disbursed. By the recognition that without contributors, the organization withers.

What we do not do?

We do not promise to make children smarter or more educated. We only help provide access to education. We want to keep children in school, but they still have to learn themselves.

Need for OPEN

Organizations such as OPEN are needed to fund classrooms, benches, desks, scholarships etc. Government policies leave little money for infrastructure or scholarships. The Tamil Nadu Government policies mandate that all of a school’s revenue from the Government go towards teacher salaries for Education in Tamil only. Tuition fees from students go directly to the Governments. Government schools have to beg from private philanthropists for funds for classroom buildings, benches, desks and other supplies. Parent-Teacher organizations at these schools raise money and administer spending for these infrastructure expenses, as well as on salaries for English teachers and education in English. Education in English is vital for success in modern India.

Jaigopal Garodia Girls’ HSS Annual Budget

As an example, here is the budget for the Jaigopal Garodia Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Saidapet, Chennai.

Income from the Govt.: Rs. 72 lakhs, wholly spent on salaries for teaching and non-teaching Govt. employees.

Tuition fees from students: Rs. 10 lakhs, given back to the Government.

Income from the Parent-Teacher Organization: Rs. 2 lakhs – used for salary for non-Government teachers for English Medium & Bills (electricity, phone, maintenance, etc.).

As we can see from the above summary, a typical Government school has no money for the development of the school itself. All monies from the Government go to staff salaries. Organizations such as OPEN are needed to develop infrastructure and provide scholarships for needy students.