Building & BaLA Initiatives

Building as Learning Aid (BaLA) is an innovative concept that Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) schools in India have adopted to improve the quality of education. The BaLA concept aims to make the entire school physical environment a learning space, including the inside, outside, and semi-open spaces. The idea is to maximize the educational value of the built space by considering how children learn.
The BaLA concept was originally developed by the Vinyas Centre for Architectural Research & Design with support from UNICEF. It incorporates the following ideas:
Activity-based learning: The school’s architecture can be a resource for the teaching-learning process.
Child friendliness: The school’s physical environment should be child-friendly.
Inclusive education: The school’s physical environment should be inclusive of children with special needs.