S Anandalakshmy Consultant, Chennai

S. Anandalakshmy after studying Economics at Madras University, got a master’s degree in Child Development and Education from Bryn Mawr College and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Her career began with running an innovative school in Chennai. She then moved to Lady Irwin College, Delhi University, where she developed and set up a master’s degree course in Child Development. During this period, she served in an advisory capacity to the UNICEF, Ministry of HRD, and academic institutions In India. She visited Universities in the US at the invitation of the Asia Society and spent two summers at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Edinburgh and a three-month stint at the Maison des Science de l’homme in Paris. For over seven years, she served as Director of the Lady Irwin College, while also attending international seminars and conferences and maintaining contact with NGO, the Mobile Creches and other child-related organizations.

Her research has been in the area of the Girl Child, Cognitive Development in early childhood and Socialization. She edited a book for SAGE, along with two colleagues, on the theme of qualitative research methods. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Barefoot College, Tilonia, Volontariat in Pondicherry and Bala Mandir in Chennai. She worked with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, helping assess and monitor child care work in SEWA, Ahmedabad. In the course of assisting the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in Tamil Nadu, she made two short documentaries on the innovative methods (ABL and ALM) in Tamil Nadu schools.