Uttarakhand’s Kaushalam programme brings business mentorship to over 15,000 school students

The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Uttarakhand, has partnered with the Udhyam Learning Foundation to help school students explore entrepreneurship through practical learning experiences. Under the Mukhyamantri Udyamshala initiative, Class 11 students are being guided by mentors to build business ideas and prepare to present them at district- and state-level platforms.

The initiative is part of the Kaushalam programme, which was launched in 2021 and is now running in 2,127 schools across Uttarakhand for students of Classes 9 to 12. Instead of limiting learning to textbooks, the programme encourages students to understand entrepreneurship by actually creating and running small business ideas.

Students are supported through mentorship sessions, workshops, and regular interactions with local entrepreneurs and industry experts. These sessions focus on practical areas such as branding, marketing, packaging, pricing, and customer engagement. So far, the programme has covered all 13 districts of the state, conducted over 30 specialised sessions, and engaged more than 15,000 students and teachers.

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Business skills through hands-on projects

A key focus of the programme is learning through real-world experience. Students begin by identifying a business idea and then work on developing a product or service that they can present to customers. During the process, they learn how decisions related to packaging, pricing, quality, and branding can affect a business.

The initiative also introduces students to basic financial and operational concepts such as budgeting, costing, maintaining records, and understanding safety and compliance requirements. This approach helps students gain confidence and develop decision-making and problem-solving skills early on.

Students regularly showcase their ideas at school and district-level events, where they interact with mentors and receive feedback to improve their projects further. These opportunities also help them strengthen communication skills and build confidence in presenting their work publicly.

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Funding support under Kaushalam initiative

To help students develop their projects, schools participating in the programme are provided seed funding of Rs 5,000 each under the Business Support Fund (BSF). The financial support allows students to experiment with ideas and take their projects forward in a more structured way.

The Udhyam Learning Foundation said it has implemented similar entrepreneurship programmes across 15 states, reaching more than 4.7 million students and working with over 50,000 teachers across the country.