BrightCHAMPS Foundation commits to empowering 1 million low-income students with next-gen life skills by 2025
Bangalore : In line with India’s National Education Policy (NEP) that aims to make India a global knowledge superpower, BrightCHAMPS has set up a first-of-its-kind Foundation with the mission to future-proof 1 million lower-income kids by 2025 by teaching them Industry 4.0 skills.
In the two months since establishment, BrightCHAMPS Foundation has delivered 2,000 hours of classes across next-gen skills such as coding, robotics, AI, money management, financial literacy, public speaking, presentation skills and more, impacting close to 10,000 students across 3 cities in India.
The company’s mission has always been to make next-gen life skills accessible to the world’s 2 billion kids, regardless of physical location or socio-economic status. Its aim is to embody the global spirit of ‘No child left behind,’ and the BrightCHAMPS Foundation is yet another step in that direction.
Speaking about the Foundation, BrightCHAMPS Founder and CEO, Ravi Bhushan, said, “The broader vision of the BrightCHAMPS Foundation is to level the playing field for kids, so that they feel confident to dream and pursue whatever they truly want to in life, regardless of their social and financial backgrounds. While policies and programmes such as the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act and the National Early Childhood Care and Education Policy have been important steps in the right direction, a lot more remains to be done. Multiple researches by NCERT and the Ministry of Women & Child Development have shown that upwards of 50 million kids in India are significantly behind grade-appropriate learning levels and close to 50% teenagers in our country don’t complete formal secondary education. I worry about the future of these kids and strongly believe that quality next-gen skills learning can help bridge the gap and help historically disadvantaged kids move up financially and socially as adults who can make the country proud. I believe several government agencies and ministries have shown that learning is a powerful levelling and enabling force, and that every kid must be provided with the opportunities and means to achieve their dreams.”
According to a 2014 report published by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 32 million Indian children (between 6-13 years) have never attended school. According to NCERT’s 2017 National Achievement Survey, nearly half of the primary school-going children in India – about 50 million children – are not achieving grade-appropriate learning levels. Another report by the Ministry of Women & Child Development has revealed that around 50% of adolescents do not complete secondary education, while approximately 20 million children do not attend pre-school.
Given the current situation, to achieve the ambitious goal of imparting next-gen skills to 1 million kids, BrightCHAMPS has tied up with Mr Shankar Lalwani, a Member of Parliament from Indore to make marginalised kids in Indore proficient in tech, money, and communications skills. Other collaborations include DAV School in Dwarka, New Delhi, Smile Foundation, IIM Ahmedabad, Dubai Cares, Choice Foundation, Navjyoti Foundation, and Devi Foundation.
Elaborating on the mission and vision of the Foundation, BrightCHAMPS Director of Curriculum and Learning Experiences, Kartik Sharma, who is leading the initiative, said,
“The reason the BrightCHAMPS Foundation has come to be is that we’ve learned, through exhaustive research, that when kids are introduced to hands-on and practical learning experiences, they develop a solution-oriented outlook to life. This not only makes them work-ready as they grow into adulthood, but also enables them to correctly identify their talents and interests. We believe that a multi-disciplinary and digital-first approach to learning that can be applied to real-world scenarios instead of being limited to theoretical knowledge systems, will make India’s youth more employable and active participants of the global economy. And so, as we go forward, we will also be setting up avenues to provide top-performing Foundation students with scholarships and other requisite support and access to new and exciting opportunities. There’s a lot to be done, and we’re excited with the success we’ve already seen.”
While executing the current partnerships, the Foundation is also actively looking to onboard new partners, who will help them reach as many deserving kids as possible and fulfil their vision of making education across the country more inclusive, democratic and accessible. BrightCHAMPS is also looking forward to making the Foundation financially independent by 2024.