Why did you create this innovation?

The Indian education system focuses largely on rote learning & memorizing facts. There are no opportunities for children to become sensitized to the real-world problems around them and get encouraged to take action. Consequently, they leave schools with grades & certificates and get good jobs, but lack in becoming empathetic, responsible, and engaged citizens. ICO was born to tackle this problem.

How does your innovation work in practice?

The International Changemaker Olympiad (ICO) provides a platform for children in schools to launch their own social initiatives and solve a real-world problem. For instance, a team of 12-year olds saved 81,000 litres of water after installing water-saving devices (aerators) in taps in people's homes. Another team saved 800 Kg of food by taking the extra unused food from their hostel mess & donating to an orphanage regularly. The objective of ICO is to give a real-world problem-solving experience to the students, helping them develop an empathetic, action-oriented mindset from a young age. In ICO, students register in teams of 2-4, identify a real-world problem, develop a solution, & implement it over 5 months. Each team is assigned a mentor from our organization who guides them online over this period.

How has it been spreading?

Till now, 25,000+ students from 200 schools in 23+ cities in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have participated in ICO and launched their social ventures.

6 national education organizations in India, such as Teach for India, have partnered with ICO to implement our program with their national network of schools.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

ICO has developed an open-source toolkit for any organization to replicate our model. Please contact us at info@ico-official.org to know more and get access.