Our Girls Who Code Clubs program is an intervention that helps us reach kids in govt schools beyond technical skills, and go deep into areas like personality development and gender issues. We decided to launch the #LearnFromHome campaign to help our kids stay on track even while at home. When the whole world was busy adjusting to WFH as the new norm, we were trying hard to make the transition smooth for kids, who have also had to adapt to a remote learning situation. In collaboration with our partner @girlswhocode we created an activity packet that entails a combination of tech and personality based skills that we will continue to…

Though the acceleration of technology penetration – accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic –  has taken place across many sectors, there are some areas in which the digital divide has been felt most acutely. Here are three examples: Education As schools, colleges and universities shuttered at the start of the nationwide lockdown, many parents and students found their  usual in-class learning taking place primarily at home.  Educational technology, or edtech, has long been seen as the future for a country in which education is largely viewed as a pathway to self-improvement. While India saw the launch of 4,450 edtech startups from 2014 to 2019, COVID-19 proved to be an accelerant for…

These four individuals and organizations throughout different sectors of Indian society are stepping up to #DoingTheRightThing in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic     Individual: Barkha Dutt When COVID-19 started spreading around India in mid-March, Barkha Dutt and her four-person team were called to act and investigate the emerging crisis. Over the last 86 days, the journalist and author has been on the road, travelling to ten different states across India to cover the impacts of the nationwide lockdown and the humanitarian  crisis of stranded migrant workers. Dutt’s on-ground reports, posted on Twitter and her independent YouTube news outlet, Mojo Story, called attention to the widespread struggles of low-income…

Over the last three months, many of us have felt the increased penetration of technology in our daily lives. In-person meetings have been replaced with video conference calls. Children’s lessons are now carried out through some combination of online learning, Whatsapp groups and phone calls. Social media networks have become more vital than ever to stay in touch with loved ones both near and far. Though the role of technology in our daily lives has been increasing steadily over the past decade, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this transformation to an unprecedented pace. According to Microsoft, the number of users utilizing its online software for collaboration climbed nearly 40% in a…