Four ways we serve

Yes. The Right to Education Act (2009) places a duty on the State to provide schooling for every child between six and fourteen; it does not forbid parents from educating their children themselves, and the central education ministry has said as much. Thousands of Indian families homeschool today, and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), a board under the Government of India, exists precisely so that learners outside regular schools can earn recognised certificates.

Through open schooling. NIOS offers a Secondary examination (equivalent to Class 10) and a Senior Secondary examination (equivalent to Class 12), both recognised across India for further study and employment. A learner registers directly, studies at their own pace, and sits the exams when ready. Maharashtra also runs its own open schooling board. Our founders' sons took this route; we help families understand it.

NIOS asks for a minimum age — about fourteen for Secondary and fifteen for Senior Secondary at the time of admission — with no upper limit. For younger children, NIOS has an Open Basic Education programme with levels roughly matching Classes 3, 5 and 8. In practice, most homeschooling families do not rush: the exam is a door the child walks through when ready, not a finish line.

No. Learning in a child's own language is not a disadvantage — it is the foundation. Our space works in whatever language the child brings. For certificates, NIOS offers Marathi as a language subject and allows exams in several Indian languages; we help families choose subjects and mediums that fit the child. Gondi and Madia have no exam board, but they have us: they are spoken, sung and respected here.

Children do not learn in a straight line, and "behind" measures a race we have chosen not to run. A child who reads late but reads for love, or who learns arithmetic from the forest produce her family sells, is not behind — she is learning in the way that will stay. When a child wants to prepare for an exam, focused study of a year or two is usually enough; our founders saw this with their own sons.

What children have always done when given room: explore, ask, make, play, help. A day might hold Warli painting, a football match, a chess game, a question about why the river changes colour, an hour with a grandmother who knows the names of every tree. We bring in people who know things — artists, doctors, farmers, karate teachers — and let interest do the rest. Reading, writing and numbers arrive inside all of this, not instead of it.

At our space, in the village, in the summer camp, on the football ground. Children who learn outside school are rarely alone; they are simply with people of many ages instead of one. Many families find their children more at ease with adults and younger children than schooled children are.

Yes. A parent's job is not to know everything; it is to notice what the child is curious about and to find the people and places that can feed it. That is what the Foundation is for. Several of the most capable learners we know have parents who never finished school.

Learning with the Foundation is free — no fee, no admission test, no age limit. If a family later chooses to register with NIOS, there is an examination fee of a few thousand rupees per level, with concessions for Scheduled Tribe learners and for girls; we help families with the forms.

Come and see. Bring your child to Alapalli on any day we are open, or write to us. There is nothing to sign and nothing to prove. If your child is curious, that is enough.