While about 84% of children in India go to  school, there are huge disparities in access to education from one region to another and from one population to another. The city of Dehradun, in the north of India, is a privileged place of study for the children of the wealthy middle class of Delhi and many private schools have settled there. Children from poor families in the surrounding villages have neither the education level nor the financial means to attend them. They must be content with government schools with old infrastructures, where the teaching is more than mediocre. Many of them drop out of school and those who finish school are unable to compete with students from private schools.

Since 1998, Mr G.K. Swamy has been working to ensure that disadvantaged children in Purkal (suburb of Dehradun) have access to quality education in order to become true actors in the development of their region. The school he founded bans learning by heart and focuses on learning skills (knowing how to think) and acquiring qualities such as creativity, curiosity, autonomy, ethics and criticism.The school currently has 435 students and offers a comprehensive curriculum from primary to high school, recognized and certified by the state.