The school was established in 1992 in the village of Bali, Rajasthan by William and John Bissell who recognized the need for a model school to empower young people in rural Rajasthan where literacy rates are extremely low, especially among women. After completing his studies in 1988, William Bissell lived for several years in Jodhpur, Rajasthan where he worked with rural artisans and various crafts co-operatives across the state. This formative experience strongly impacted his views on the critical role of education and the lack of high quality, affordable education in rural areas. William was passionate about creative approaches to education which brought out each child's inherent talents and the need to include environmental education in a local context. With input from many creative talents over the years, the school has become a model for preparing its students for success in life while contributing to the local community. In 2012 Sandeep Dutt joined the trust and is now the Chairman of the Bhadrajun Artisans Trust, he has been instrumental in many of the innovations in learning, has helped strengthen the position of the school as a change-maker and leader in the affordable quality education space in the world. This episode provides a glimpse of the vision and mission of the school; the founders, students and community share their experience and how the school has made a difference to the lives of young people of the area. Today, many of the alumni members come back to the school to teach and share their passion for taking learning forward.
