Udhyam Learning Foundation‘s flagship school programme, Udhyam Shiksha, which partners with state governments to integrate entrepreneurship education into government schools, has been selected for the 2026 HundrED Global Collection and awarded the EduEvidence Equity Bronze Certification.
The HundrED Global Collection identifies, showcases and celebrates 100 of the world’s most impactful and scalable K–12 education innovations each year, following a rigorous evaluation by global education experts. As part of this assessment, Udhyam Shiksha also qualified for the EduEvidence Equity Bronze Certification, an international certification of evidence of impact in education, and is a member of the Global Education Coalition launched by UNESCO, recognising educational innovations that demonstrate strong evidence of equitable learning outcomes and accessibility. Udhyam is the only Indian NGO to have a programme featured on the collection for 2 consecutive years, having also won the Youth Choice Award in 2025.
The dual recognition acknowledges Udhyam Shiksha’s evidence-backed and equitable approach to preparing students with the skills, mindsets and agency needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Today, the programme is implemented across 15 states, reaching more than 4.7 million government school students.
“This recognition affirms what we have seen in classrooms across the country—that when students are trusted with real responsibility and given opportunities to solve real-world problems, they develop capabilities that no textbook alone can teach,” said Mekin Maheshwari, Founder and CEO, Udhyam Learning Foundation. “It is a recognition of the commitment of thousands of teachers, students and our government partners who have made this journey possible. More importantly, it reinforces our belief that entrepreneurship education can become an integral part of public education, helping young people build the confidence, resilience and agency to shape their own futures.”
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As economies and workplaces continue to evolve, education systems are increasingly looking beyond academic achievement to help young people develop capabilities such as critical thinking, collaboration, resilience, creativity and problem-solving. In India, where nearly 12 million young people enter the workforce every year while formal employment opportunities remain limited, enabling students to become adaptable, self-driven and opportunity-oriented has become increasingly important. Udhyam Shiksha was designed to address this need by bringing experiential entrepreneurship education into the government school system.
Working in partnership with state governments, Udhyam Shiksha integrates entrepreneurship education into the school curriculum through a teacher-led, experiential learning approach. Rather than learning entrepreneurship through theory alone, students develop entrepreneurial mindsets and 21st century skills through real world doing. They work in teams to identify problems in their communities, conduct market research, develop solutions, pitch their ideas and receive seed funding to test them in the real world. Over several weeks, they build products or services, interact with customers, manage finances and reflect on successes and setbacks, developing confidence, resilience, financial literacy, communication and problem-solving skills that prepare them for life beyond the classroom.
Designed for scale, the programme is delivered by government school teachers within existing public education systems, making experiential learning accessible to students across diverse socio-economic contexts. By embedding entrepreneurship education into regular classroom learning, Udhyam Shiksha demonstrates how public education can nurture agency, initiative and real-world problem-solving without requiring significant additional infrastructure or resources. The government school teachers implementing the program are also trained to become mentors. Both teacher and student journeys are supported through an AI – Udhyam Saarthi – to deliver equitable, 24/7, context-aware support—evaluating ideas, prototypes, and pitches; giving rubric-based feedback; and automating routine tasks so teachers can focus on meaningful coaching. Udhyam Saarthi is backed by the AI for Global Development Accelerator (AI4GD) program by The Agency Fund and OpenAI, as one of eight organisations selected globally. It also won the Sales f orce and Mint Tech4Good 2025 Award for “Best Use of AI in Education and Livelihoods.”
These recognitions place Udhyam Shiksha among a global community of education innovations that are redefining how students learn and preparing them for an increasingly complex future. It also reinforces the potential of teacher-led, government-supported models to deliver meaningful, equitable and scalable educational transformation.
Source: Business Wire India
