Two Indian students, one educator shortlisted for World Education Medals 2025

NEW DELHI: Two students and an educator from India were on Thursday announced among 15 finalists from across the globe competing for the World Education Medals 2025. Raul John Aju, a 16-year-old student from Kerala who founded AIrealm Technologies Pvt Ltd, and Bengaluru student Ashwat Prasanna who founded EyeSight are among the five shortlisted in the medal’s “Students” category. Vineeta Garg, Head of IT at a Delhi school, is named among the five finalists for the World Education Medal in the "Educators" category.

“With changemakers like Raul John Aju, Ashwat Prasanna, and Vineeta Garg, I am confident we are moving in a positive direction for the future," said Mayank Dhingra, Director and Global Head of Education Business and Strategy at HP – the IT company behind the medals. “Their innovative efforts demonstrate a promising path forward for education, ensuring it evolves to meet the needs of future generations,” he said.

The World Education Medals were founded by HP to spotlight the innovative work of those using artificial intelligence (AI) to transform education and close learning gaps. They celebrate worldwide achievers across three categories of Leaders, Educators and Students for demonstrating impact, leadership and advocacy in using AI for social good. “Research, including our own ‘HP Futures 2025’ report, shows the benefits of AI to close learning gaps and deliver equitable education, but only when deployed ethically and effectively," added Dhingra.

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Global Competition: Finalists from 12 countries

Raul has been chosen for his flagship initiative, ThinkCraft Academy, which aims to democratise AI education by making it accessible to learners from rural schools to global universities. His fellow finalist, Ashwat, is in the running for his work in making science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education accessible for visually impaired students.

Vineeta’s selection in the Educator category is the result of EmpowerED with AI, an initiative that develops multilingual AI resources, accessible tools and gamified learning platforms to enable students and teachers to understand, use and create with AI. Others in the running for this year's medals represent the US, the UAE and Philippines as well as Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Italy and Greece. The winner of each of the three medals, chosen from the finalists by a Global Judging Academy comprising prominent individuals, will be announced next month and honoured at the Education Leaders Forum in London.