Education

When doctors dismissed her severe period pain, Lucknow-based educator Zarine Garcia decided no girl or boy should feel the same. Through the Study Hall Foundation, her sessions have reached 4,500 students across rural Uttar Pradesh, breaking years of silence around menstruation.

Vaishnavi Anantha just couldn’t bear the endless classes and rote learning in traditional schooling. So she asked her parents to give her three months to test a new strategy. And, the results surprised them.

In Tonk, Rajasthan, an AI-led programme is helping students beat math fear and boost exam scores. IAS officer Saumya Jha’s ‘Padhai with AI’ now runs in 350+ schools.

In Bihar’s brick kilns, where childhoods are often traded for labour, Anshu Jaiswal is rewriting destinies through Akshar Learning Centres. His Neev Ki Eent Foundation is turning bricks into books and giving children a chance at dignity and dreams.

From starting a gifting venture at 16 to founding Rural Tech Rise, Harshini Kishore Singh has empowered 5,000+ children with tech education, cybersecurity awareness & entrepreneurship skills.

From rural healthcare to groundwater conservation, these innovations prove how homegrown tech can deliver affordable, scalable solutions to India’s toughest challenges.

The District Collector’s Internship Programme (DCIP) in Kozhikode is giving students a rare chance to step into governance, work with departments, and drive community-focused solutions. Over the past decade, the four-month internship has impacted 2 million people, all while shaping the next generation of changemakers.

Welcome to the Ulta Pulta (upside down) school, where mountains form the walls and the open sky serves as the roof. The school is the brainchild of Shrey and Jyoti, who founded Suraah — a student-centric alternate schooling movement in the hills of Uttarakhand.

When Vishal Talreja returned from Finland, one question stayed with him: what if every child in India could grow with the same dignity and confidence? That thought became ‘Dream a Dream’, now empowering 2.2 million children with life skills across India.

Former journalist Hitarth Pandya left his newsroom career to start Kids for the Environment Development Initiative (KEDI) in Vadodara. Through farming, skits, and hands-on activities, he has introduced over 20,000 children across five Vadodara schools.