Marudam Farm School

About Institution

Marudam Farm School is run by The Forest Way - a registered non-profit charitable trust involved in education, afforestation, environmental education, organic farming and more. Marudam Farm School receives no funding from the government. The school is registered under the rules & regulations in force in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu

As of school year 2014-15, Marudam has seventy children, between the ages of 4 and 10 years. It is located on an organic farm that is spread over 8 acres. Facilities at the campus are aesthetic, simple, environmentally conscious and cost-effective.

Our hope is that an education at Marudam Farm School will help to bring about sensitive and intelligent human beings. Children will discover not only their interests and passions, but also nurture skills in both academic and non-academic areas that will help them meet any life challenges. We care for the land and use it as a rich educational resource, integral to the learning process.

Originating from different cultural and social backgrounds, we are a community of children and teachers from around the world. The richness of learning that comes with this diversity is a key element in the ethos of Marudam Farm School. As a group of adults we work cooperatively, without hierarchy or formal structure and find that working closely together in such an environment, while admittedly greatly challenging at times, is both enjoyable and deeply rewarding and never, EVER, boring. We would like to emphasize here that we are not an international school. We do have some foreigners who live full time in Tiruvannamalai, but the majority is of local children, city and village kids in almost equal measures, a balance we care to maintain.

The school began as Thiruvannamalai Learning Centre in 2009, formed by trustees, teachers and a few friends on a rented campus in Thiruvannamalai. TLC, as it was popularly referred to, had a wondrous start with 20 students in the first year, followed by a two year journey of discovery and laying the foundation for Marudam Farm School. In June 2011, the school moved to its current campus and was renamed Marudam Farm School.

The journey of the school, the campus and the land are the result of the passion and energy of several committed individuals and the generous support of a large community of friends and donors from all over the world.