Kickstarting with 105 schools across Karnataka, the startup founders at YIPP signed a 3-year MoU with the Government of Karnataka to accelerate NEP adoption

Startup founders from the Young Indian Philanthropic Pledge, spearheaded by philanthropist Nikhil Kamath and Prashanth Prakash signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Government of Karnataka, in presence of the chief minister and education minister, as part of the Karnataka Model Schools Pathways Programme (KMSPP).

The initiative will undertake the task of incorporating advancements from leading ed-tech companies to utilize their techniques beyond urban areas to be more socially accessible for rural communities impacting learning outcomes, enrollment, and retention of students by building capacities of teachers, augmenting physical and digital school infrastructure, holistic learning, employment readiness skills and community engagement across Government schools.

The Young Indian Philanthropic Pledge understands the urgency to engage the current generation of startup founders to engage in solutions that are scalable yet socially accessible. The aim of the program is to transform 105 schools and its co-located anganwadis/preschools as “Model Schools” in 4 districts (Haveri (50), Tumkur (25), Yadgir (25), Davangere (5) by 2025.

This would be a first of its kind and a pathbreaking initiative driven on a mission mode to accelerate NEP adoption in the state. The USP is the coming together of the startup ecosystem in India as part of the Young India Philanthropic Pledge, led by Nikhil Kamath (Co-founder Zerodha and True Beacon) and Prashanth Prakash (Founder, Accel) who will be joining hands with global philanthropic foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to provide funding of Rs 50 cr. over a period of three years.

The first project in a series that YIPP will undertake where signatories, all under 45 years of age, will pledge 25 percent of their wealth with a minimum spend of Rs1 crore per year.

Commenting on the initiative, Prashanth Prakash said, “The program would be delivered by a collaborative of 10 organizations with a sole aim of converging civil society efforts otherwise operating in silos and bringing in deep national and international expertise towards improving the quality of education in Karnataka”.

Addressing the gap in accessibility to education, philanthropist Nikhil Kamath added “Education is at the core of most solutions our society needs today, for the affluent to have access to a different pedigree of education is bound to create further inequality. YIPP through this program hopes to level the playing field and provide govt schools with the tools to take on private ones.”