Akshar Trust

Mission Statement: The endeavour of Akshar Trust is to enable children with hearing impairment have access to an academic environment which will prove to be their opportunity, perhaps their only opportunity, for a life of self-reliance and dignity.

Vision Statement: To make an individual with deafness lead a useful, happy and fulfilling life.

Akshar Trust, Vadodara, was established in1988 to provide education and care to hearing-impaired children and guidance to their families, conduct research, investigation, and experiments in the education of hearing-impaired children, and train teachers for the hearing impaired.

Akshar has been working as a charitable trust for children with hearing impairment and completed 38 years on July 18, 2025. The initial classes were held in a home. In 1988a tin shed was rented at the Fatehsinh Gymkhana in Fategunj for5 students. In 1991 the EME School of the army gave a small bungalow under Army Welfare and Akshar moved in with31 students. The numbers swelled and with 80+ students in 1996, the bungalow became too small. Support came from the Education Board of the Municipal Authoritiesand in 1996 Akshar moved into empty classrooms at a Municipal School. The numbers grew still further and in 2008 an entire empty building was leased to Akshar.

In the meantime, efforts to acquire land had been ongoing and in2000 the Govt. of Gujarat leased 2 1/2 acres of ‘Kothar’ or Waste land to the Trust. Subsequently, a farmer built a hut and a case needed to be filed. However, in 2008, re-possession was finally successful due to the District Collector. The building was designed pro bono by Architect Karan Grover in mud compacted brick and thatch. The brick was made at site in local mud.

The building has been awarded by the Indian Institute of Architects, a National Award for Excellence in Architecture, 2018, for the Category, ‘Public/Institutional Projects'. After16 years of efforts, the new campus was inaugurated onApril 29, 2016, by Dr. J. N. Singh, subsequently Chief Secretary, Govt. of Gujarat. Ms. Avantika Singh, Collector of Vadodara came to grace the occasion.

There are 105 students studying at Akshar today. More than 571 children with deafness have been helped over the years. 212 students have completed Std. X and XII board exams. More than 100 students have been mainstreamed in regular schools. Many alumni are graduates and 9 have received their M.Com. 2 alumni have recently been selected for Airport Operations & Customer Services at Indigo Airlines; 1 has joined a regular school as an ICT teacher. There is a mechanical engineer working atCEAT, a practicing architect and 8 alumni working at Paul Mason Consulting (PMC). 2 alumni are working at DCB Bank in executive positions. These are special stories in the world of deaf education.