The global competition invites innovators to develop affordable, scalable solutions to help Grade 1 children in India to master foundational reading and maths at a target cost as low as US$10 per child.
India has prioritised foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) since 2021, and ASER 2024 shows reading levels in government schools rising from 16% to 23%. Therefore, there is a significant opportunity to reach many more children. To close this gap, XPRIZE today launched XPRIZE Accelerate Learning, a US$6 million, two-year global competition with the British Asian Trust and ShikshaNext bringing it to India.
The competition aims to help Grade 1 students in India build foundational reading and maths skills faster. The competition is outcomes-driven. Teams compete for prize funding and must validate solutions through an independent randomised controlled trial, giving funders and governments clear evidence of what works. Participants also gain connections to funders and investors.
Competition's tracks:
- Core Track: With the British Asian Trust as the partner in India, teams must achieve at least a 25% improvement in mastery for 150,000 first-graders at a cost of less than US$10 per child per year.
- Last Mile Moonshot Track: Driven through a partnership with ShikshaNext in India, teams build technology-based solutions alongside teachers, achieving at least a 50% improvement for under US$40 per child per year.
"XPRIZE Accelerate Learning reimagines what's possible for every child, regardless of geography, income, or circumstance," said Anousheh Ansari, Chief Executive Officer, XPRIZE. "We're challenging innovators to harness the latest technology and learning sciences to develop solutions for each child's pace, language, and cultural context. By putting the child and their learning ecosystem at center, we can unlock lifelong opportunities for children and families around the world."
"Our work to strengthen foundational learning in India has shown that achieving change at scale requires us to think beyond conventional approaches and bring together ambition, innovation and investment. By putting measurable outcomes at the centre, we can give funders confidence that their investments are driving meaningful change, while helping promising innovations reach far more children," said Hitan Mehta OBE, Chief Executive, British Asian Trust
Registration is open to everyone, from start-ups to universities and individuals, and closes 15 February 2027 (Last Mile Moonshot) and 15 March 2027 (Core).
To register, visit xprize.org/competitions/accelerate-learning.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261110065573/en/
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