Avanti Fellows
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : p*****l@a***********s.o*g
Mission Statement
To redesign the student learning experience in secondary school, empowering students and government systems through technology, high-quality content, and pedagogy
About This Cause
Avanti was founded in 2010 by Akshay Saxena and Krishna Ramkumar. Our mission is to enable young Indians from low-income backgrounds to have equitable access to high-quality colleges and professional growth that transforms their life trajectories. We work towards redesigning the student learning experience in secondary schools (grade 9-12) by empowering students and government systems through technology, high-quality content, and pedagogy. By 2025, Avanti seeks to enable 1 million students from low-income backgrounds to gain admission into quality colleges, leading to stable careers. Avanti works in close partnership with the State Governments of Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to implement programs that integrate the use of technology for in-school and at-home learning. Our target constituents are low-income, live in predominantly rural settings (85 percent of schools), learn in the Hindi language, and are enrolled in Grade 9 through 12 (ages 13-17). Our core programs focus on Mathematics and Science. Our work is funded by The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, USAID, JP Morgan and Infosys, has received international recognition for its efficacy and impact (Ashoka Fellowship, Draper Richards Kaplan Fellowship, Echoing Green Fellowship) and spans 3 areas: 1. Largest digital intervention in India for low income secondary school students: Avanti has over 2M monthly active learners on its digital platforms. These include the Avanti Sankalp YouTube Channel, the Avanti Sankalp App and classrooms powered by our blended learning solutions. Avanti has the largest library of Hindi language content in Math and Science in India. In addition to video content, Avanti also has a standards-aligned library of assessment items and workbooks. This content is freely available to all students in India. During COVID-19, Avanti has been coordinating a multi-state at-home learning intervention for low-income students called GharPeSchool. These students have been organized into WhatsApp groups moderated by their schoolteachers. Avanti works with teachers to send students a daily lesson plan. This plan includes video content (from Avanti’s library as well as other open content), pdf assignments and notes. The program is supported by weekly live online masterclasses. Avanti additionally works on program management and monitoring as well as helping the government interpret and to act on weekly quiz data. 2. System transformation of 219 schools through the integration of Blended Learning in Haryana: Avanti works with over 45,000 students and 2,500 teachers to improve the quality of STEM education in government secondary schools. Avanti is coordinating the Sankalp program where these schools have been provided power back-up, ICT equipment and specially designed workbooks. Avanti works with state officials to implement a rigorous teacher training and monitoring program and additionally manages the at-home digital learning component. A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating a similar intervention in Chennai showed a 0.6 SD shift in Math outcomes in a single year. 3. Engineering and Medical Exam Test prep for 10,000 students in the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Schools (JNVs): The JNVs are a system of 600 central schools for talented students predominantly from rural areas in India. Avanti works with students in grade 11 and 12 to help them get into India’s best Engineering and Medical colleges: Over 62% of our students qualified the JEE Main 2020, compared to a national average of 27%.