[12] Hema Malini, Indian actress and danseuse, has served as the global brand ambassador for the Ekal Vidyalaya movement.
The local youth who are trained to operate the schools are social workers and teachers, teaching sanitation and health care, literacy, and self-sufficiency.
Regionally, Ekal Vidyalayas are run by the Friends of Tribals Society (FTS) and Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad (BLSP) NGOs and by state-level groups such as Janahitha in Andhra Pradesh and Bharatiya Janseva Sansthan in Gujarat.
[16][17] In addition to teaching children, the schools hold weekly sessions for the village populace to discuss issues like rural development, health and awakening.
[citation needed] In 2006, the National Hindu Students' Forum (UK) selected Ekal Vidyalaya as the main recipient of fundraising during its annual Sewa Week drive.
[14] EVF's single-teacher school concept and their contribution towards literacy and empowerment in the rural and tribal areas have been praised by several state governments and social organisations in India.
[2] Avinash Kaushik, American entrepreneur and author, wrote that foundations like the Smile Train, Doctors Without Borders and Ekal Vidyalaya have done "incredible work" and "they make the world a better place".
[31] Raman Singh, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, praised the work done by Ekal Vidyalayas run by the FTS in 2500 tribal villages of the state in spreading education.
[37] Quoting from the report in The Milli Gazette, Mukundan C. Menon noted that the English booklet used to teach second year students in Jharkhand omitted six letters of the alphabet.
The report alleged the VHP-run Ekal Vidyalaya schools had the goal of "Hinduizing" tribals and spreading hatred against Indian minorities.
"[6] In a 2008 article Angana Chatterji, associate professor of anthropology at California Institute of Integral Studies, identified Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA as one of the charities in the US that had allocated money "disproportionately directed to Hindutva-affiliated groups".
[41] In an article in the Daily Times of Pakistan, Khalid Hasan described the Ekal Vidyalayas as having a "curriculum steeped in instilling hatred against non-Hindu religious minorities".
[42] Rights activists have claimed that the schools pursue a Hindu-nationalist agenda and generate hatred towards non-Hindu minorities such as Christians.
In this report, they wrote that "there has been a concerted campaign against the Ekal Vidyalayas by a combination of media and academic networks ... try as they might, they really cannot find anything wrong with the schools".
[43] According to Prakash Sharma, media convener of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, "The Ekal Vidyalayas are our effort to reach the most deprived areas of the country.
[3] François Gautier, French author and journalist, described the Ekal Vidyalayas as "a harmless programme doing wonderful job for tribal children", and questioned why organisations raising funds for them were attacked.