our founder
Our school was founded by Martin Howard MBE.
He was the British Naval attaché in Delhi in mid ‘80’s.
Captain Martin Howard MBE, Royal Navy and his wife Annie Howard lived in India since 1980’s and set up the highly successful guest house called Tikli Bottom. He noticed that there was sadly lacking a good school for the village children. So he proposed to the panchayat to build a school for them on common ground with the condition that ownership of the land will rest with the Panachayat in perpetuity. Thus the Gairatpur Baas Panchayat school was born. All Funds were raised from charitable donations, from many supporters around the world. Martin was awarded MBE in Queens’s Honours list in 2017 for promoting education in Rural India.our supporter
Our main supporter and founder, Martin Howard, sadly passed away March 14th 2021. Many villagers and other donors created a bust for him made by Tikli Artist and it is now housed in the beautiful blue Martin Howard block in the school. Dearest Annie passed away peacefully 26th August 2023 and her indomitable spirit, along with Martin's, lives on at the school. Jojo, their daughter, is now taking care of both Tikli Bottom and the school keeping their legacy thriving.Their Legacy Lives on
WHY Support US
This is your chance to invest in the future for India. The Village Children who attend GBPS have bright futures and are set to achieve their goals of Great Success.History
16year
- Started the building in a modest way with 10 students, 2 rooms and 2 teachers to conduct nursery classes for children aged 5 & 6 in 2000.
- John Major, former prime minister of the UK donated funds for construction of five classrooms.
- As students got into higher classes, additional classrooms were built.
- Residential accommodation for 3 teachers and support staff built in year 2007.
- Science Laboratory set up in 2017.
- Computer Laboratory modernized in 2019.
- School Hall built courtesy Leighton- an engineering construction company in 2019.
- Construction of Martin Howard Block comprising of five classrooms and library completed in 2021.
- 10 KW Solar power plant installed for the school hall and Martin Howard Block in Jan 2023.
Vision of Martin Howard
Founder of Gairatpur Baas Panchayat School (BETS)
About Our School