The school was inspired by the story and life experiences of one of our founders, Dr. Channa Raju, an IIT trained aerospace engineer and scientist at the National Aeronautics Laboratory, Bangalore, India.
Dr. Raju was born in a rural village as the eleventh child of poor, illiterate parents who were subsisting with minimal income from farming. At an early age, his only educational opportunity was a make shift school with a single teacher. The main motivation to go to school was the availability of a noon-time meal.
Due to the family’s financial challenges and their location in a rural area, throughout his childhood, Dr. Raju faced continuous financial and logistical challenges to access educational opportunities. Against all odds, even when his peers had long dropped out, he continued to pursue learning. As a child, he worked as a child laborer in an effort to pay the fees for private tuition to learn English in the 5th grade.
When he finally finished high school, he was offered a job as a fitter mechanic in a local company. Under financial pressure, he nearly accepted this job. However, his destiny was changed by two brothers who were his high school friends at the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher learning, Whitefield, Bangalore (two other founders of our organization- Dr. Praveen Raja and Dr. Naveen Raja). The two brothers tore up his job offer letter and insisted on Dr. Raju pursuing higher education.
His personality was made and destiny was altered in the Sathya Sai Institute under the positive influence of Sathya Sai Education supported by the Sathya Sai Sevadal. The two brothers supported his entire graduate education in Aerospace Engineering at Anna University. He later graduated from IISc completing his masters program in Aerospace Engineering, taught by the professor who got him into the junior college after tenth grade. Dr. Raju eventually completed his Ph.D. from one of the most prestigious academic institutions in India (Indian Institute of Technology - Chennai) and presently works as a scientist for the National Aeronautics Laboratory in Bangalore, India
This school is inspired by the personal story involving its founders, and the inspiration to give back to the community and transform the lives of needy children through the power of education.
