Grade 8th and 9th students at the government high school in Borabanda, a suburb in the north of Hyderabad, were part of this year-long project under the Secondary Schools Program. The intervention aimed to boost secondary education, encouraging students to complete grade 10th and pursue higher education.

Starting in April 2021, the project introduced technology and digital skills to students, many of whom are first generation users of mobiles and computers. The key focus areas of the curriculum included 21st century skills training, STEM mindset and computational thinking, promoting gender equity and understanding career development.

An IT lab was set up for students to explore STEM-driven careers, while career-connect interactions, volunteer and guest sessions etc. helped students find real and relatable professionals to shape their own career aspirations. It also organized hackathons that allowed them to identify problems and build innovative prototypes showcasing solutions.

The project included new tech exposure like creative coding via Pocket Code. It enabled students to create their own animations, videos etc. directly on a smartphone based on the Catrobat framework. They made these artefacts on topics like gender, child marriage, pollution, garbage and deforestation.

The year-long learning journey helped create a Career Museum – this is an experiential learning exhibition created by students as they progressed with the curriculum. It’s designed for fellow students, teachers, school functionaries, parents and volunteers. It inspires students to enquire about potential new career pathways, understand real life experiences at work, ask critical questions about balancing professional and personal priorities, appreciate struggle and nurture realistic expectations. This museum also encouraged students to engage with decision-making skills and create their own career vision boards.

Starting April 2022, this project is being extended to 2,000 students in grades 6th-10th at the same school. Grade 10th will have a deeper career intervention with personalized counseling, while a STEM-powered club and a focus on self-learning anchor the project for students in the rest of the grades. This year we will also focus on parent engagement and a need-based teacher capacity building approach for overall development of this school.

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Read more about our Secondary Schools program here.