Greg Mortenson’s bestseller Three Cups of Tea has inspired a US$100,000* donation from U.S. President Barack Obama to Mortenson’s non-profit, sold more than 4 million copies, been translated into more than a dozen languages and is required reading for U.S. soldiers heading to Afghanistan.

But are certain stories in the book fabricated?

According to a report aired last Sunday by 60 Minutes, they are. I’m not going to get into each allegation here, but what’s more troubling are the allegations against Mortenson’s non-profit, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), which he founded to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The allegations made by the 60 Minutes’ report include the fact that in its 14 years of operation, CAI has released only one audited financial statement. The segment also said that the organization spends more money domestically than it sends abroad. » Continue reading “Lessons in Transparency from Greg Mortenson”

For businesses, transparency means the full, accurate, and timely disclosure of information. Being transparent—about progress and shortcomings—makes it more likely that assets will be accurately valued and allows prospective clients to see what they will get, before they actually do. Gray Matters Capital (GMC) in its 3rd Leadership Conference, made an attempt to reinstate this very fact among the Affordable Private Schools (APS) sector in Hyderabad last week.

However, spreading this message in schools that are working with low income communities and helping them understand the meaning and importance of transparency is a great challenge. There is a need to help school entrepreneurs improve their environments. But in the absence of any industry standards and with a current lack of information about the APS sector, comparison becomes difficult and so does the identification of changes required.

The three pillars of transparency are open communication, accountability, and measurability.  With transparency comes honesty, leading to value. GMC’s rating tool, developed in partnership with M-CRIL (Microfinance Rating International Limited) for rating Affordable Private Schools, encompasses the third pillar of transparency – measurability – and in turn triggers the need for the other two. The tool not only covers the academic achievements and infrastructure of the schools, but also looks at the learning environment and governance aspects.

The ratings tool can be used by any of the key players in the Affordable Private Schools ecosystem – schools, banks, educational investors, donors, parents, and educational service providers.  But, in reality, the rating tool will largely be used by the schools, in order to get themselves benchmarked against others. Hence, it is most likely that schools will have to get themselves rated, and they will bear the cost of the tool.

Though the appetite of such schools for this tool still needs to be tested, it is a step in the right direction. The tool can not only help the schools raise finance but also provides a competitive platform and hence motivation to perform better.

India has a population of 1.2 billion, with 30% of people below the age of 15. What does it mean for the world? It means that whatever we do has a large scale impact on everything, and the majority of future leaders of this world will be from India. So, ensuring that we create a lively and competitive environment for our future leaders through education becomes part of our responsibility.