India’s school education system serves more than 25 crore children. A significant number of these students possess the potential to become future innovators and leaders of the country. Many of these students come from underserved communities and face systemic gaps in identification and support. With most interventions beginning only after Grade 10, much of this potential remains untapped and underdeveloped. Central Square Foundation, a Delhi-based nonprofit was founded by Ashish Dhawan which is dedicated to enhancing the learning outcomes of all school-going children across India through system-led reforms.
The Birth of Central Square Foundation (CSF)
Dhawan was among India’s most successful private equity investors. He founded and ran ChrysCapital, the country’s leading private equity firm. Ashish is a graduate of Yale University and has received his MBA from Harvard Business School. The initiatives of CSF span innovation and policy to practice and focus on learning impact at scale.
CSF’s Mission and Core Values
The mission of the company is to ensure quality education for all children. Their values are mission driven, thrive on excellence, collaboration and bias to action. The need for a positive workplace is reinforced. Key donors include Bajaj ltd, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, British Asian Trust and Campus Activewear. Their main partners are ACT Grants, Akshara Foundation and Amira Learning.
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Initiative
The firm has undertaken two main projects. Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) and EdTech. Foundational Literacy refersto the ability to identify letters (a, d, h), words (at, cat, ball); read them fluently with meaning. Foundational Numeracy is being able to identify numbers such as 25, 82, 76 and solve basic maths problems like addition and subtraction. The organization works closely with key government stakeholders and ecosystem partners to develop goals, targets, and the mission roadmap. They also provide technical and management support to execute the missions.
Driving Change Through EdTech
Under Edtech, ‘AI Samarth’ is an AI literacy initiative aimed at raising awareness and encouraging the responsible use of AI among students, parents and teachers across Bharat. CSF has partnered with the Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to develop a robust AI Literacy curriculum framework that fosters AI awareness, deepens understanding and builds the capacity required to engage with AI ethically and responsibly.
Bharat Survey for EdTech (BaSE), another one of their initiatives, is an effort to bridge information asymmetry in the EdTech ecosystem. Policymakers, educators and tech innovators are provided with reliable data and insights for informed decision-making on EdTech.
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