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Udhyam Shiksha Business Innovation Challenge

place India + 1 more

Making Bharat (India) Entrepreneurial

A unique Real World experiential program designed for students to experience an entrepreneurial journey from scratch while still in school (Grade 11). It enables students to build entrepreneurial mindsets and skills to thrive in today's world through 'Learning by Doing' unlike the mainstream Education model which is theoretical by design, causing 73% students drop off rate post Higher Secondary

Shortlisted
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Overview

HundrED shortlisted this innovation

HundrED has shortlisted this innovation to one of its innovation collections. The information on this page has been checked by HundrED.

Web presence

2021

Established

500K

Children

1

Countries
Target group
Students upper
Updated
June 2024
1. Real world learning project experiences (business or social innovation projects) becoming mainstream and an essential part of secondary education. 2. Entrepreneurship becoming an aspirational career path for students and youth.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

1 million jobs exist for 12 million youth entering the job market, annually. The key to bridging this gap lies in shaping their mindsets from job seekers to self-reliant, agentic and entrepreneurial individuals capable of succeeding in the complex real world. This shift offers a sustainable solution to the Indian unemployment crisis.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

The program is designed for higher secondary school students, & run in 3 phases:
Phase 1: Pre-seed money
Phase 2: Post-seed money
Phase 3: Mentorship
Phase 1 involves students forming a team and coming up with a business idea. Then they conduct market research and gather feedback on their idea. This is followed by developing a prototype and presenting their idea to apply for seed money.
During Phase 2 the teams use the seed money to create a product or service and market/sell it. In this phase of 4 to 6 weeks, they get to purchase raw material, understand concepts of costs, revenue and profit & loss; and the art of selling. The greatest lesson however, is in developing the key entrepreneurial mindsets – experimentation, grit, communication and collaboration.
Selected teams move to Phase 3 where they get to work with business mentors & take their businesses to the next level of growth.
A WhatsApp chatbot engages the students and provides them with relevant inputs, nudges and support.

How has it been spreading?

The program has spread from one state (Delhi) reaching 250,000 students in 2021-22 to 4 states (Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh & Telangana) reaching over 500,000 students in 2023-24.

Students have come up with 50,000+ business ideas, 1000+ entrepreneurs and professionals have signed up as their mentors, 300+ students have received admissions in colleges based on their performance in the program, and a 100 member alumni platform supports student businesses beyond the program.

The goal is to make this experience accessible and aspirational for all youth. This is achieved through partnerships with state governments and other NGOs. By sharing these stories through pan-India media, we aim to inspire and further enable grassroots entrepreneurship at scale.

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

Our curriculum is open source and downloadable on demand from our website. If you’re a state education department, a school or an NGO interested in adopting our program, connect with shyam@udhyam.org or harish@udhyam.org. We can walk you through the program and provide training resources, tools and support to roll it out in your location.

Implementation steps

Step 1 - Preparation
- Identifying space in the school timetable and annual academic calendar when the various phases of the program will run
- Identifying teachers who will be in charge of implementation
- Arranging funds to be distributed as seed money for selected students.
- Onboarding teachers and students for Phase 1 (Pre-seed money phase).
Step 2 - Pre-Seed Money Phase
- Classroom activities for students led by teachers, designed around entrepreneurship stages including: market survey, idea brainstorming, team formation and finance planning.
- Each student team applying for seed money readies a pitch for their business idea
- Selection of teams for seed money based on their effort and engagement in real world actions and the quality of their business idea
Step 3 - Post-Seed Money Phase and Mentorship
For teams who received seed money, focus on business metrics: units sold, no of customers and net profit.
- Classroom inputs around diagnosis and solutioning of challenges faced in the business.
- If possible, pair student teams with business mentors individually, or organize sessions by experienced entrepreneurs for exposure and problem-solving.
- Selection of student businesses for a final showcase based on business metrics and potential of business idea.
Step 4 - Celebration
Showcase of student businesses, with a focus on the entrepreneurial learning journey: including actions, learnings and challenges overcome.

Spread of the innovation

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