The Tech in India

In September 2026, The Tech Interactive expanded its Design Challenge Learning (DCL) initiatives to India through teacher training programs in Kolkata and Pune. In Kolkata, five days of hands-on workshops and observations with Ek Tara empowered educators serving underprivileged girls to foster creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving skills using simple, accessible materials. The team then brought DCL to Pune to train content leaders in partnership with Pratham, equipping teachers to guide discovery and inspire student innovation across diverse learning environments.

Ek Tara

In Kolkata’s largest slum communities, girls face extreme vulnerabilities, including lack of quality education, risk of child labor, and exposure to systemic crime. Ek Tara provides a crucial sanctuary and path forward for these girls and women. Through our partnership, The Tech Interactive brought Design Challenge Learning to Ek Tara’s teaching staff. By training educators to lead interactive, hands-on design challenges, we are opening doors to practical innovation and helping students develop the confidence and technical problem-solving skills required to navigate and change their world.

This is part of a larger collaboration with Teach a Man to Fish and The DQ Institute to bring digital literacy and entrepreneurship skills to the girls and women of Ek Tara.

We are also exploring the idea of bringing The Tech’s signature program The Tech Challenge to India in 2028!

Ek Tara Training

Ek Tara Training Cont.

Pratham Education, India

Partnering with Pratham, The Tech delivered a hands-on training program for content leaders centered on key problem-solving mindsets and design thinking methodologies. The two-day interactive workshop encouraged active participation, allowing Pratham’s team to reflect on their own strengths as innovators while identifying how these mindsets support student growth across subject areas. This format gave participants early insight into potential student challenges, particularly around receiving feedback and working collaboratively.
Building on this foundation, the training challenged Pratham’s content leaders to co-create relevant learning experiences based on the real needs of their students. Participants practiced strategies to improve student reflection through journaling, learned to scale challenges for varied learning goals, and left with fully defined plans to integrate Design Challenge Learning across Pratham’s educational initiatives.

(From left) Sherry Burch, Senior Director of Learning Products, The Tech Interactive, Sir Madhav Chavan, Pratham Education Foundation Founder, Shital Patel, Director of Global Partnerships, The Tech Interactive