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July

Sikshana Foundation and Monsanto Fund launch Literacy Enhancement Project—Monsanto Fund Grant of Rs. 15 lacs to help 3400+ students in 30 Govt schools in Karnataka-

Bengaluru, July 31, 2010: Sikshana Foundation, a leading non-governmental organization committed to improving the educational standards in the public education system has partnered with Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto—a leading agriculture company, on a Literacy Enhancement project in Karnataka. Launched in the Chikballapur district today, this project aims at improving learning levels of 3400+ students in 30 rural primary government schools in the state.

The launch event was inaugurated by Shri Raghunath Reddy, BEO, Chikballapur and presided by Mr. P.M. Prakash whose family continue to support the 10 schools in the area for the 2nd year. The event was well attended by staff of Monsanto with their research center director Mr. Legh English and the staff of Sikshana Foundation.

Sikshana, a unique effort spearheaded by the Sikshana Foundation (aka Sivasri Charitable Trust) aims at improving learning levels in the Government Primary Schools through better access and delivery of education. In five short years, the program has grown to cover nearly 400 schools and 45,000 children, becoming one of the top educational interventions in the State of Karnataka. This partnership with Monsanto Fund is an extension of the program in 30 schools in the rural areas of North Bengaluru.

Prasanna V. R., CEO, Sikshana Foundation said, "Sikshana has proved the effectiveness of its model by adopting all 134 higher primary schools in Kanakpura, since 2007. As we looked at statistically validating the model across a new, wider geographic region, the partnership with Monsanto Fund came in at the right time, helping us adopt 30 schools. Such support is extremely valuable as it helps us attain our goal of reaching out to 1000 schools from the current 400 in the next two years. We are optimistic that by 2012, we will have enough data to present to the government for their serious consideration of funding our initiative."

This School Nurturing Project in North Bengaluru focuses on improving academic standards—ability to read and write, basic computation and expression as per the minimum learning levels defined by the Department of Education. The schools in the vicinity of the Monsanto Research Centre (MRC) and breeding stations, jointly selected by Sikshana Foundation and Monsanto, including the Government Higher Primary School, Sahakarnagar, (where the MRC employees have been conducting community outreach and volunteering activities) are covered under this project.

Jyotsna Bhatnagar, Director—Corporate Social Responsibility, Monsanto India said, "At Monsanto, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stems from our Pledge—the Company values that guide the way we conduct business and measures progress in key areas of sustainability. We believe that education is a key requirement towards creating an enabling environment for a sustainable and better future. Our partnership with Sikshana Foundation is another step in achieving our common goal of creating a favourable educational environment and strengthening communities."