WASHINGTON - Pavneet Singh, 19, is one of three Akal Academy students studying in universities across the United States. He is a shining example of success achieved by a Sikh educational institution that opened in 1986 with five students and a single school at Baru Sahib in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Now, with more than 24,000 students and 23 academies in northwest India, funded largely by Sikh donations, the institution is looking to expand throughout Punjab by overhauling its organizational structure and professionalizing its operations to go after funding from large foundations and companies in North America, a professional fund-raiser said. “We’re talking Wal-Mart…”

WASHINGTON – As he walked across the campus of American University wearing a white kurta-pajama and a black dastaar, he looked as if he were walking across the campus of Baru Sahib, a Sikh academy in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, wearing the same school uniform.

Pavneet, 19, has his faith, his traditions, and also a scholarship at the private university, where he is a sophomore studying computer science and physics.

A graduate of Akal Academy, he is one of the emerging success stories of the Sikh school located in a region known for its spiraling youth drug addiction, surging illiteracy and sinking spirituality.


After decades of government ineptness and community degradation, many desperate parents are looking at the accomplishments of students like Pavneet and wanting the same for their own kids.

As a result, many have begun to donate parcels of their land to build more of these academies in their own villages. The goal is to build 150 schools throughout Punjab that are easily accessible by foot or school bus. About 36 new schools have already broken ground.

Akal Academy has been largely funded by donations from Sikhs living abroad. But this dramatic expansion, which also includes five girls’ colleges and a university, will require funds from beyond what the Sikh communities can provide.

That is why Akal Academy is going after large-scale funding from private and corporate foundations in the United States and Canada.

“We’re talking Wal-Mart and the Gates and Buffet foundations,” said Avtar Hari Singh Khalsa, a professional fund-raiser from New Mexico.

He is developing a program to pay for the expansion. If he achieves that goal, Akal Academy could enroll about 2.5 million students and 10,000 faculty.

He needs to raise $200 to $300 million, he said.

“That’s not a small amount.”

His plan is to restructure the organization, detailing its growth and performance in the past 20 years, and establish a plan for it to handle a ten-fold growth in five years.

Avtar Hari Singh worked for a long time in the real estate and entertainment businesses in Los Angeles, where he became a student of fund-raising and best practices, he said.

After retiring in December 2006 as executive director of Sikhnet, an Indian friend introduced him to work of the Kalgidhar Society, which is the umbrella organization that includes Akal Academy, a charitable hospital, a drug de-addiction center, an orphanage and a senior citizens’ home.

When he finally traveled to Baru Sahib last year to see the facility and its operations, he ended up staying there for 18 weeks.

“I got Baru fever,” he said.

Akal Academy opened in 1986 with five students and a single school at Baru Sahib, an 80-minute drive from the Simla hills. Its mission was to educate rural children who otherwise would have no access to education.

Today, Akal Academy has more than 24,000 students and 23 academies throughout Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The education is English-medium for children, ages 4 to 18, similar to K-12 in the American system. Baru Sahib, the largest academy, boasts 1,450 students who study in a state-of-the-art 15-story.

“It’s a miracle,” he said.

Avtar Hari Singh is impressed not only by the government-accredited education program, but also by the Sikh values the program instills in each student.

Its goal is to create “good human material” by having a “good spiritual component to anchor them down,” he said.

He spends his time preparing the organization to withstand the scrutiny that large and mid-size donors treat as investments.

“Lots of people think that health and education are the two keys to unlocking poverty,” he said. Last year Americans gave $800 billion to charities, and 80 percent of that was from individuals. There is huge competition in the U.S. for charitable donations. So much so that fundraising has become an occupation with professional standards.

Avtar Hari Singh left Wednesday for Delhi to produce a “US-oriented DVD telling the story of Kalgidhar Society.” He hopes to have the video and printed material ready to talk to the first group of donors this year, he said.

“Then, we’ll go from there.”

The plan to expand Akal Academy came about suddenly, said Iqbal Singh, president of Kalgidhar Society.

“We were not planning on more academies because we need every penny form the public,” he said. “But last year the people of Punjab came to us with an outcry.

“There is a sixth river in Punjab in which all the young people are drowning,” they told him. Singh was very moved by their pleas.

“There is so much deterioration and destruction in Punjab, even small kids are in trouble,” Singh said. “People who did drugs (and went through de-addiction) are now worried about their own kids.”

Singh was in California and New Mexico earlier this year. He travels every year with a student jathaa to gurdwaras abroad, to raise money.

“Akaal Academy offers moral and scientific education,” he said. “But Gurbani is first.”

And the students have a positive affect on the surrounding areas. “Within a 5-kilometer radius, the addiction rate is lower and Sikhi is higher,” he said. “Kids who go through the program are empowered to persuade their parents not to drink or do drugs. They become good Gursikhs.”

Although 80 to 85 percent of Akal Academy’s students are Sikh, the schools are open to all denominations. “There are many Hindus too, and they learn Sikhi very gladly,” Singh added.

Within five years, he expects to have a school in every village of Punjab.


Note: By Anju Kaur
Sikh News Network staff journalist
anjukaur@sikhnn.com

Top photo: Courtesy Kalgidhar Society