MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

Vidhyalay Udhyam Association

One-line solution summary:

Co-creating entrepreneurial opportunities with last mile populations.

Pitch your solution.

Vidhyalay Udhyam co-create solutions for complex social challenges with people who feels it very closely and co-create entrepreneurial opportunity along with solution through social business for same. Imagine a remote village in India, facing the scarcity of clean drinking water and somehow they would be able to make water filter by their own indigenous skills through intervention of design thinking and entrepreneurial mindset curriculum.They also able to solve this problem for their communities at affordable cost with some business skills.

This is the change story of one of our intervention in a remote village. These initiatives help villagers to sustain through their local economy and resources.

60% of young population in tribal villages migrate to cities for labor jobs and drop out before completing the elementary education because they do not able to find career opportunities in villages.

What specific problem are you solving?

In the recent decades massive population from Indian villages migrated towards cities and indulge with low wages high risk labor jobs. Villages economy reducing due to migration of young people. Young people in tribal villages have two basic assumption

1. We are not made for creative jobs.

2. We are born to work for others.

6 out of every 10 students in tribal and rural areas dropout from schools and migrate to cities for labor jobs, most of them unskilled and trapped in debt and risk.

5 out of ever 10 teachers not satisfy with the current curriculum framework, the curriculum not able to satisfy the curiosity and develop the skill set of our students who belongs to 21st century generation.

7 out of every 10 parents unsure about the career of their children who study in the schools of rural and tribal villages.

What is your solution?

Vidhyalay Udhyam offering three programs in rural and tribal set up specially in vulnerable communities.

1. School Enterprise Network:- we engage with the students age group of 13-18 in public schools through project based learning. Each schools form the youth clubs and articulate a problem to work upon. The problem comes from the same community which they feel most. Students gone through the entrepreneurial practices curriculum through four folded design thinking framework of Empathy, Imagination, Design and Solve. Students ideate and solve the problem of their community and learn the art of solving problem.

2. Gramonmukh: Gramonmukh refers from villages to villages, Students build the solution and invite women collective to collaborate with them to make it this solution a business opportunity. Women collective come in the picture and co-create business planning with students and raise funds from local authorities and stakeholders. Gramonmukh is a 12 month capacity building fellowship program with women collective.

3. Panchayat Incubation Centre:- Panchayat refers to collective of villages and incubation center help the program iterative after one cycle. each time students solve an identified problem, they invite women collective and further sustain by Panchayat Incubation Network.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

We are working with students and women collective living in tribal and rural region under below poverty line (Income less than 60 USD). We engage with these communities to fix the three levers for smooth economic engine and empowered them for good job and inclusive entrepreneurship.

1. Entrepreneurial mindset:- We are focusing to build entrepreneurial mindset through project based learning and design thinking framework. making a problem into opportunity demonstrate the students leadership and entrepreneurial attitude. These learning become reason for students to continue their learning and build a meaningful career.

2. Creative confidence:- Students and women collective together build the business and develop their creative confidence to lead the business and revenue generation. They clarify their self doubt and build their creative confidence.

3. Business Skills:- Managing team, finances, raising funds and making proposal these all activities we practice during the 12 months of Gramonmukh fellowship program. These activities help them to develop business skills.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Enable small and new businesses, especially in untapped communities, to prosper and create good jobs through access to capital, networks, and technology

Explain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Challenge and your selected dimension.

Remote geographies has their own expertise, skill set and problem, We need to contextualize the solution to facilitate them for untapped the new opportunities through solving their own challenges.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community

Who is the primary delegate for your solution?

Director, Social Business development