Secondary Schools Program

 

Enabling girls in government secondary schools to break barriers of accessing technology, enhance their agency and build 21st century skills to make informed career and life choices using STEM and coding.

About

Rationale

Secondary schools are an important space for learners to prepare themselves for their future. The future needs self aware citizens adept at navigating technology and fueling socio-economic growth for all.

Introduction

We create learning experiences encouraging adolescents to build critical 21st century skills,  challenge gender norms, explore career possibilities with a focus on STEM, use coding as a medium of expression to become creators rather than consumers of technology.

This program currently runs in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana.

Strategy & Approach

We have an 80-hour blended learning curriculum for government secondary schools focusing on gender, career and life skills, coding and digital literacy. It is designed to make learners reflect on their lived experiences and develop a vision for self. To enable scale and replicability we work in a partnership model with a network of civil society organizations and state governments. The facilitator is a key stakeholder in the process. We have an intensive capacity building approach to equip the facilitator to create an interactive and safe learning space inside their classroom.

Key characteristics of this program include:

Digital Literacy

Provides experiential learning of coding via MIT’s Scratch platform.

Career

Enabling girls to forecast their careers and chart pathways.

Gender Focus

Encourages more girls to pursue higher education in STEM fields, widening their career prospects in digital and technology-driven jobs.

Nurturing Environments

Through engagements with parents, teachers, principals and government, building champions to help more students pursue careers in STEM and related fields.


Read more about the EcosySTEM here.

:

:

Impact

  • 178,472 Students
  • 14,422 Teachers
  • 1,073 Schools
  • 136 Districts
  • 11 Partners
  • 7 States

Partnership

For Funding

If you want to support high-impact, innovative, technology-enabled programs for adolescent boys and girls, the secondary school program offers:

Transparency – Data-driven reporting and analytics dashboards to view student impact and project outcomes.
Expertise – End-to-end project management and support from our experienced team of professionals including opportunities for volunteer engagement. Large scale, technology-enabled programs with a focus on quality.
Leverage – Leveraging existing Quest knowledge in technology, design, media and content to design unique, program offerings in partnership with a funder. Cross-donor leverage across different Quest funding partners, adding sustainability, scale and stability to all school impact initiatives.

For Outreach

If you are an NGO or a school, Secondary School Program offers:

Knowledge and Skills
Capacity building of trainers and program staff through Quest’s immersive workshops and access to a virtual community of training practitioners.
Access to Quest’s curriculum on coding, gender, life skills and career development
Access to Quest’s thought leadership forums such as Quest2Learn, blogs and other networks

Partnerships
Access to government secondary schools across different states and partnerships with state governments
A network of other civil society organisations working in the secondary school spaces

Tools
Data dashboards for program implementation and performance review
Funding and infrastructure support.

Media Coverage

STEM mindset -- the key to a better future for girls in India
Cultural Fit & Social Perception Stereotypes Hold Back Girls From Pursuing STEM In India: Report
THE CHANGEMAKERS SEASON 2: IBM & Quest Alliance | CNBC-TV18

Partners