Overview

ShikshaNext, a three‑year, INR 170‑crore multi‑donor initiative aimed at improving learning outcomes for Indian children, announced the next phase of its programme by selecting eleven EdTech and artificial‑intelligence solutions that will serve children aged four to ten. The selection moves the initiative from a vision stage to execution, with a target of reaching more than 13 million children by 2029 through integration with state government systems.

Selected Solutions – EdTech ScaleX

Five solutions have been chosen for the EdTech ScaleX pillar, each already validated by independent evidence and intended to be deployed at scale for over eight million students. The solutions are:

1. Chimple by Sutara Learning – a teacher‑directed, at‑home gamified mobile learning app, validated by a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in 2024 by Prof. Kartini Shastry (Wellesley College) and Prof. Sheetal Sekhri (University of Virginia).

2. Rocket Learning – a playful, WhatsApp‑based home‑learning platform, validated by a J‑PAL RCT in 2023.

3. Top Parent by Nudged – a pan‑India, parent‑facing at‑home learning solution, validated by a quasi‑experimental study under Prof. Tarun Jain of IIM Ahmedabad in 2026.

4. Prakashak by ThinkZone – a WhatsApp‑based at‑home learning programme, also validated by a quasi‑experimental study under Prof. Tarun Jain (IIM Ahmedabad) in 2026.

5. Youth Impact – a phone‑based remedial mathematics learning tool, validated by a five‑country RCT led by Dr. Noam Angrist and colleagues in 2025.

These five ScaleX solutions will be taken into government systems to improve learning outcomes at scale.

Selected Solutions – EdTech Accelerator

Six solutions have been selected for the EdTech Accelerator pillar, focusing on building evidence and capabilities for next‑generation AI‑enabled tools:

1. Darsel – a one‑to‑one personalised WhatsApp chatbot for at‑home mathematics practice.

2. Eedi – an AI‑native, WhatsApp‑based Socratic personal tutor for mathematics remediation at home.

3. TARA ORF by Prosical Language Technologies – an oral reading fluency (ORF) assessment, analysis and remediation tool for at‑home use.

4. PadhAI by Pratham Education Foundation – an offline ORF assessment, analysis and remediation solution for at‑home learning.

5. Vowels of the People Association (VOPA) – an ORF assessment, analysis and remediation platform covering both literacy and numeracy skills at home.

6. VallamAI by Madhi Foundation – an AI‑powered teacher‑support tool for assessments, coaching and lesson planning.

These accelerator solutions will develop the evidence base and technical capabilities required to scale AI‑driven educational interventions.

Partnerships and Funding

The initiative is anchored by three founding strategic partners – the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Reliance Foundation and the Gates Foundation – with Central Square Foundation acting as the managing partner. Anthropic participates as a supporting partner. Collectively, the partners have committed INR 170 crore over three years, with the programme structured around three pillars: EdTech ScaleX, the EdTech Accelerator, and an EdTech & AI Innovation Hub that will address unsolved problem statements for future technology development.

Executive Quotes

  • Ishmeet Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Central Square Foundation, stated that the selection of the eleven solutions marks the tangible start of ShikshaNext’s ambition, noting that five are already evidence‑backed and ready for government‑scale deployment while the remaining six are building the next generation of AI‑enabled classroom tools.
  • Prachi Jain Windlass, Head of India for the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, emphasized that technology must improve learning and enable rapid educator response, and that ShikshaNext uniquely combines evidence, innovation and government adoption.
  • B Srinivasan, Executive Lead of Reliance Foundation, highlighted the role of expanding digital connectivity and 5G in delivering quality education nationwide and described ShikshaNext as a collaborative platform to generate rigorous evidence and ensure equitable AI solutions.
  • Benjamin Piper, Director of Global Education at the Gates Foundation, remarked that the accelerator’s AI solutions represent the real opportunity of generative AI to strengthen pedagogy rather than replace it, complementing ScaleX’s evidence‑backed tools.

Impact Targets

ShikshaNext aims to enable more than 13 million children to access meaningful, technology‑ and AI‑enabled learning experiences by 2029, with the ScaleX pillar alone targeting over eight million students. The programme’s evidence‑generation focus seeks to demonstrate not only that solutions work in controlled settings but also how they perform within real government systems, thereby informing sustainable, large‑scale impact.