Abraham George Education: How His Ideas Shaped Shanti Bhavan
Abraham George's education philosophy is simple: education is the way out of poverty, and he built Shanti Bhavan around that idea. "I strongly believe that the path to social justice is through economic opportunity from a good education and proper upbringing," he told Authority Magazine in 2022. A former Indian Army officer, New York banker and financial software entrepreneur, he returned to India in 1995 and set up The George Foundation.
What are Abraham George's views on education?
His argument starts with economics. Social justice, he has said, cannot come without economic justice, so the first task is to help children become successful.
"From my time in America, I recognized that economic equality often leads to social equality and not the other way around. In turn, quality education is the key to professional success," he wrote on his website.
At a 2007 NYU Stern award event, he called the ethical creation of jobs and income "the only real path" to lifting people out of poverty, as NYU Stern's magazine reported. Abraham George's education argument follows from there: a good education is what gives a child from a poor family a real chance at that kind of work.
Why does Abraham George focus on a few children?
He chose to work closely with a small number of children rather than try to reach many. "The solution I came up with was that I should take a few children and make them extremely successful," he said in 2024. The standards are high because, as he told PassBlue in 2017, "They have to do exceedingly well to compete in the marketplace."
He expects the wider effect to come later, through the graduates. Authority Magazine carried his account of how that works: "The multiplicative impact of their contributions will change the lives of many poor people."
How his ideas shaped Shanti Bhavan's design
Abraham George's education priorities show up throughout the school's design.
Starting at about age four
A child typically joins Shanti Bhavan at age four, according to the school. Abraham George has explained the timing: "It's a residential school. We need to get them at a very young age." Children change most when they are very young, he says.
Shanti Bhavan says its goal is "to strengthen family bonds," not to replace them. Children also receive food, shelter and medical care. As he has put it, "If you're sick, you can't learn anything."
English-medium teaching and high standards
Teaching is in English on the CISCE board, with ICSE exams in Grade 10 and ISC exams in Grade 12. Shanti Bhavan chose the ISC curriculum "because it challenges students academically, is taught in English, and allows our students to be competitive for college admissions on a global scale."
"We expect them to score above 90% in the 10th and 12th grade board examinations," Abraham George wrote in his December 2024 founder's letter. In a 2025 podcast he named the first of his three training priorities: plenty of reading and arithmetic in the early years.
Values and leadership
His second priority is leadership and communication. "People who have the self-confidence to get up and speak and lead ... are likely to succeed," he said on the Remarkable People podcast. Students take part in public speaking, debate and leadership clubs, and they organize school events.
The third priority, humane values, is the one he calls hard to teach. He says generosity, kindness and compassion can only be taught by example, and he adds that none of the three priorities is enough unless compassion shows up in action. In the school's words, "from day one, Shanti Bhavan instills in them the importance of fighting against social discrimination and poverty."
Arts, athletics and mentorship
Students learn music and fine arts, perform Bharatanatyam and Kolatum dance, play soccer, volleyball and basketball, and join chess, debate, creative writing and robotics groups. Mentoring comes through companies such as EY, LinkedIn and Lufthansa Technik, according to the school's website, and alumni return to teach and mentor.
Support until the first job
"Our commitment to each and every child is from the first day of school to the first day of work," reads Shanti Bhavan's own description of its model. The school pays for college and helps graduates start their careers. As Abraham George put it in 2025, that support lasts "until they have a job, this first job."
The duty to carry at least 100 others
"I tell the children who are graduating from Shanti Bhavan that you have a moral duty to carry at least 100 others with you in your lifetime," Abraham George said in 2024.
According to Shanti Bhavan, 99 percent of its graduates give 20 to 60 percent of their salaries to their families, communities and other children in need. In a January 2026 interview he said he was "committed to replicating the Shanti Bhavan project to widen its impact." A second campus, Shanti Bhavan 2, opened in 2024 with 60 young children.
IIJNM: Abraham George's education venture for journalists
In 2000 Abraham George founded the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM) in Bangalore, a postgraduate school where he served as president. Classes began in 2001.
He saw a free press as a check on poor governance. "So I thought the best thing I could do was to train some young people in the principles of journalism," he told NYU Stern's magazine in 2006. In a message for the foundation-stone ceremony in April 2000, he wrote: "A public emerges when citizens take part, not when they merely watch."
According to The George Foundation, the curriculum was modeled on that of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and adapted to India. By 2006 the one-year program graduated about three dozen journalists a year. IIJNM closed in June 2024, after 24 years.
Where did Abraham George go to school?
Abraham George's education spans India's National Defence Academy and, after his army service, the United States, where he studied in Alabama, then earned an MBA in 1973 and a PhD in 1975 from New York University. "I had felt a desire to make a difference, and looked to NYU to provide me the basic training and motivation to one day undertake such an endeavor," he said in 2006.
Frequently asked questions
What does Abraham George believe about education?
Abraham George sees education and a proper upbringing as the route out of poverty. He argues that economic opportunity comes first and social justice follows. He built Shanti Bhavan on the belief that children from poor families can do as well as wealthier peers when they get the same chances.
Why does Shanti Bhavan start with children at age four?
Abraham George's education approach puts early entry first because children change most when they are very young. Shanti Bhavan is residential, and children typically join at about age four. The school says its aim is to strengthen family bonds, not replace them.
What was the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media?
It was a postgraduate journalism school in Bangalore that Abraham George founded in 2000, with classes from 2001. According to The George Foundation, its curriculum was modeled on that of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. It ran for 24 years, until June 2024.
What curriculum does Abraham George's school follow?
Shanti Bhavan, the school Abraham George founded, teaches in English on the CISCE board, with ICSE exams in Grade 10 and ISC exams in Grade 12. The ISC curriculum was chosen because it is academically demanding and helps students compete for college admission worldwide, according to Shanti Bhavan.