Author: Smile Foundation

In early May this year, a 14-year-old boy in Delhi turned up for his exams only to be turned away. His private school had struck his name off the rolls after his parents refused to pay a sudden fee hike they called “arbitrary and unauthorised.” That single moment — a child denied his right to learn — mirrors a growing anxiety among millions of Indian families. From Delhi to Pune to Hyderabad, protests have erupted against unchecked private school fees. What was once a choice is now an economic burden.

As public schools struggle and private ones expand, a second, shadow education system — the coaching industry — has flourished. Together, they are reshaping the landscape of urban education, turning learning from a public good into a private transaction.

The Public Promise, Frayed

Government schools were meant to be the great leveller — offering free, quality education that could lift entire generations. But over the years, chronic underfunding, teacher absenteeism and crumbling infrastructure have worn away that promise. There is a huge hidden price of learning now. While some cities like Delhi have tried to reimagine their public school systems, these remain rare islands of reform.

Most government and semi-private schools continue to rely on rote learning and overcrowded classrooms, producing students unequipped for the demands of the modern job market. Even working-class families, already stretched thin, now see private schools not as a privilege but as a necessity.

Private schools have become the de facto safety net for those who can pay. They offer smaller classes, more extracurricular activities and — perhaps most importantly — the perception of a better future. But this promise comes with a price tag that grows heavier each year.

The Coaching Economy: A Second Education

If private school fees weren’t enough, urban families now face a second drain — the sprawling network of coaching centres and private tutors. Once seen as supplements to schooling, these institutions have become the main act.

From board exams to JEE and NEET to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), every milestone now comes with its own price. Coaching classes promise competitive advantage, but what they’ve really done is create a parallel education system that runs on anxiety and aspiration. Even students from elite schools now enrol in them, fearing that school alone isn’t enough.

This culture has made after-school learning less of an option and more of a survival tactic. Childhoods are shrinking under the weight of test prep and parents are paying for both the system and its failure.

Education as Privilege

India has long imagined education as the ladder out of poverty. But in today’s urban India, that ladder has too few rungs for too many people.

For the wealthy, education is abundant — digital devices, specialised tutors, extracurricular exposure and elite institutions. For the rest, education is a series of compromises: cheaper private schools with overstretched teachers, erratic internet for online classes or the constant risk of dropping out.

Even digital learning — hailed as a great equaliser — has deepened the divide. Smartphones, tablets and reliable internet are not tools of inclusion for many families but they are luxuries. When connectivity dictates opportunity, inequality hardens.

Hidden Price of Learning

Much of this inequity persists because policy has not kept pace with the problem. Fee regulation in private schools remains inconsistent, often toothless. Coaching centres — some of which make millions annually — exist in a regulatory grey zone. In January 2024, the Ministry of Education released new guidelines for the “Regulation of Coaching Centres,” effectively acknowledging their permanence.

Meanwhile, public school funding struggles to match the rising cost of private education. Without stronger oversight, transparency and investment, the system risks widening a class divide that education was meant to erase.

Rethinking the Future of Learning

The solution doesn’t lie in choosing between public and private education but in reimagining how they can coexist with accountability and purpose.

Public education must be restored as the default choice. That means investing in teacher training, modernising classrooms and integrating technology meaningfully. Regulation should ensure that private schools and coaching centres remain accessible, transparent and accountable.

Equally important are community-based alternatives — local learning hubs, after-school support programmes and hybrid education models that blend digital and in-person learning. Such approaches can help bridge gaps without turning learning into a privilege.

If India’s economic ambitions rest on its human capital, then education cannot remain an auction. A nation where learning depends on one’s wallet cannot truly call itself equitable.

Reclaiming Education as a Right

At Smile Foundation, we see this reality every day, and the possibility of something better. Through our education programme, we work to restore what education was always meant to be: a bridge to opportunity, not a barrier.

From school interventions that strengthen classroom learning to scholarships that keep promising students in education, our work ensures that children from underserved communities don’t have to pay the hidden price of learning. We support over 2,000 students through six active scholarship projects, in collaboration with partners such as Deutsche Bank, Quantiphi, Quest Global and Siemens.

More than numbers, these efforts represent a belief — that every child deserves a fair chance to learn, regardless of income, postcode or circumstance.

When access to education becomes unequal, the future itself becomes unequal. To fix education, India must first remember what it was meant to do: open minds, not widen divides.

The consensus among educators and researchers is that STEM exposure should start as early as possible — ideally in the preschool and early primary years. Young children’s brains are highly plastic and primed to learn basic math and science concepts. Neuroscience shows that sensitive periods in early childhood make it a “window of opportunity” for learning foundational skills. In fact, infants and toddlers already display core knowledge about objects, numbers and geometry.

All experiences from birth – including simple counting games, building blocks or watching butterflies – become part of a child’s understanding of the world. This means that informal STEM activities (like exploring shapes, sorting objects or basic cause-and-effect experiments) are developmentally appropriate even for pre-schoolers. All of the experiences that children have — from birth on — inform them and the best educators can give them is the opportunity for exploration in every realm including basic science and math.

Research confirms that early math and science experiences pay off later. For example, studies find a robust association between young children’s early mathematical proficiency and later academic achievement. In other words, a child who learns to count, measure and reason spatially in preschool is more likely to excel in school math and reading in the long run. Spatial reasoning, such as understanding shapes and how things fit together, is a key part of STEM learning and is highly trainable from a young age.

Educators have long recognised that millions of young children are already in day cares and pre-schools where early mathematics and science learning can take place and that focused attention on these early foundations will yield “significant progress” over time.

Developmental Readiness: What Young Children Can Learn

Children do not need formal lectures to begin STEM learning. Even toddlers are natural explorers. Pre-schoolers readily engage in STEM through play: building block towers (engineering fundamentals), sorting and counting beads (math) or watching a caterpillar transform (life science).

Curriculum experts note that much early childhood education has always included STEM in disguise – planting seeds in a class garden (biology), cooking (chemistry/math, or even board games (patterns and logic). The key is giving children concrete, hands-on experiences and language to describe them. For instance, counting frogs at a pond or observing tadpoles helps pre-schoolers grasp life cycles and number sequences.

Psychologists report that children as young as 3–5 can learn basic STEM concepts when presented appropriately. They have innate core knowledge of objects and numbers. These intuitive abilities can be built on: a 4-year-old can sort shapes and ask “why does this tower fall?”; a 5-year-old can follow simple step-by-step instructions (an algorithm) to solve a puzzle. In fact, modern curricula in some countries introduce computing concepts at age five. For example, England’s national curriculum now teaches children (5–6 year olds) what an algorithm is – using everyday tasks like recipes or morning routines – and even lets them create and debug simple computer programmes. These examples show that with playful pedagogy, even very young learners can begin forming STEM skills.

Benefits of Early STEM Exposure

Early STEM experiences have many benefits beyond academic knowledge. They strengthen critical thinking, creativity and persistence from the start. Research in brain science shows that the preschool years are when children are active explorers and observers, building domain-general skills (like attention and reasoning) and domain-specific skills (like early math and science) simultaneously. Because learning is cumulative, giving children rich STEM experiences early can create positive momentum: strong early learning often leads to better later outcomes, whereas missed stimulation in early years can create vulnerabilities. In practical terms, a 3-year-old who intuitively sorts shapes or engages in cause-and-effect play will have an easier time learning geometry and physics later.

Studies of successful STEM programmes also underline early benefits. Young children who do hands-on science report higher curiosity and positive attitudes toward STEM subjects. A pilot study in China found that primary students who joined STEM activities were more interested in STEM careers and developed better problem-solving self-concepts.

Similarly, experts argue that teaching logic and algorithms at an early age – not only improves computer skills, but also helps children to be articulate and think logically, benefiting literacy and math too. In short, early STEM builds foundational 21st-century skills like collaboration, innovation and analytical thinking.

Global Benchmarks for Early STEM Exposure

International standards and research emphasise early STEM readiness. UNESCO and UNICEF’s recent Global Report on Early Childhood Care and Education (2024) advocates ECCE programmes that enhance literacy, numeracy and social-emotional skills as core to school preparedness. These skills are inextricably linked to early math and science concepts. UNESCO leaders stress that investing in our youngest children brings the greatest returns, pointing out that by 2030 millions of kids will lack basic skills without urgent ECCE investment. Likewise, the OECD and national academies highlight that early childhood is a critical stage: spatial reasoning and numeracy can and should be nurtured long before formal schooling.

Many high-performing education systems have taken this to heart. In England, computing education begins at age 5 (Key Stage 1), so even kindergarteners learn algorithms in context. The United States’ policy initiatives (e.g. Obama’s Educate to Innovate campaign) also stress STEM from K–12, including early grades. In Finland and parts of Scandinavia, early education is heavily play-based and often integrates basic science exploration and math games as part of daily activities. Worldwide, there is a clear trend of countries moving away from rote learning and toward inquiry-driven, hands-on curriculum in the early years.

India’s Policy Context and Challenges

India’s own National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aligns with this global shift. NEP explicitly calls for experiential, hands-on learning at all stages and places mathematics and computational thinking at the core even in the foundational (pre-primary) stage. For example, NEP mandates using puzzles and games to make math enjoyable from age 3–8. Coding and basic computational ideas are introduced by the middle school years. Such guidelines recognise that early engagement in STEM, through play and exploration, builds the logical and creative habits Indian children will need.

However, implementing early STEM in India faces practical gaps. Many rural and government schools still lack basic science labs, let alone modern labs or trained STEM teachers. Although NEP recommends 10% of education budgets for ECCE, actual pre-primary enrolment and quality lag behind targets.

UNESCO reports that 95% of countries (including India) have made ECCE commitments, yet globally 37% of children still risk not meeting basic skills by 2030. India grapples with teacher shortages and underqualified staff in pre-schools with only a fraction of Anganwadi (pre-school) workers having formal training in early pedagogy. Large class sizes and rote curricula persist in many areas, making it hard to introduce child-led STEM activities.

At the same time, new initiatives are filling in. Central and state programmes (like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’s preparations and NCERT’s experiential modules) increasingly include simple math manipulatives and science corners in primary schools. The National Initiative for School Heads (NISHTHA) and others are training teachers in inquiry methods. But the equity gap remains stark with urban private schools often having labs and robotics kits, while nearby government schools may have none. Bridging this divide is urgent.

NGOs and Community Innovations: Smile Foundation’s Example

Non-profit and private partnerships offer models for reaching underserved schools. For instance, Smile Foundation is running a large-scale STEM programme reaching over 74,000 students in 450+ schools (10 Indian states) in 2024–25. Crucially, Smile’s description emphasises equitable access to quality STEM education, especially in government schools. Our multi-layered approach illustrates how targeted support can work: we help set up tinkering labs on college campuses (like an IIT-Bombay workshop) where children used real tools to make projects. We run robotics workshops for hundreds of government-school children, teaching Arduino programming and culminating in building obstacle-avoiding robots. Science fairs and DIY kit sessions are organised to encourage students across schools to create projects and experiments.

These activities do not feel like remote theory; they bring STEM concepts to life. When underserved students physically build a circuit or code a simple game, they not only grasp the ideas but also gain confidence as young scientists. Such programmes show that with even modest investment – traveling workshops, hands-on materials, teacher mentoring – the quality gap in STEM exposure can be narrowed. By linking students to colleges, competitions, and online communities, NGO initiatives like Smile’s also help sustain interest. Importantly, they demonstrate that early STEM need not be an expensive gadget show but even low-cost kits and local experiments can ignite curiosity.

Gaps and the Road Ahead

Despite these promising examples, many challenges remain. Urban–rural and public–private divides mean that a child’s ZIP code often determines her STEM exposure. Girls and disadvantaged children are underrepresented in enrichment programmes in some areas. Teacher preparedness is a bottleneck with many early childhood educators having little training in STEM facilitation or know-how to integrate math and science into play. Curricula still sometimes relegate science to textbooks, even at primary levels where interactive learning would be more effective.

The evidence is clear that starting STEM early pays dividends, yet policies and practice are often slow to catch up. For example, while NEP 2020 highlights computational thinking at the foundation stage, only limited digital infrastructure exists in rural pre-primary settings. Similarly, research-driven approaches like spatial reasoning training are far from standard practice. Without concerted action, the benefits of early STEM education will remain unevenly distributed.

Recommendations for Expanding Early STEM Exposure

Based on current research and best practices, stakeholders should take the following steps to ensure all children benefit from early STEM exposure:

• Embed STEM in foundational curricula. Early education guidelines (national and state) should explicitly include hands-on math, science and technology activities in pre-primary and early grades. This means play-based experiments (counting games, nature exploration, simple machines), coding exercises (unplugged algorithms, age-appropriate apps) and manipulatives (blocks, shapes) as routine parts of the day.
• Invest in teacher training. Empower ECCE and primary teachers with STEM pedagogical skills. Workshops, certifications and ongoing mentoring can help teachers feel confident leading inquiry and problem-solving lessons. For instance, training on using storytelling and art to teach math (as NEP suggests) or on facilitating science play will make STEM exposure richer and more engaging.
• Equip learning environments. Classrooms need basic STEM resources. Low-cost science corners, mobile science kits, tinkering labs and computer tablets can dramatically expand what children experience. Partnership models work well with local colleges or tech companies sponsoring laboratory visits or donating kits. Smile Foundation’s experience shows that even in remote schools, setting up a small tinkering station or providing a DIY robotics kit can spark student initiative.
• Focus on equity and inclusion. Special attention must be paid to under-resourced schools (rural, tribal, slum areas) and to empowering girls. Quotas or targeted outreach can bring female and disadvantaged students into STEM clubs and contests. Community engagement (educating parents about STEM’s value) can also help sustain interest. As global data suggest, without such focus, high-need children miss out on the “window of opportunity” in early years.
• Encourage public-private collaboration. Government schemes (like Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan) and NGOs should team up. Programmes similar to Smile’s – combining local outreach with expertise from IITs or universities – can be scaled up. For instance, engineering departments could run summer maker camps for local schools. The private sector can fund digital literacy drives or sponsor national science fairs for children.
• Monitor and adapt with data. Finally, stakeholders should track learning outcomes in STEM from the start. Simple assessments of number sense or scientific reasoning in early grades can flag gaps. As in other domains, continuous evaluation (e.g. via formative assessments) will ensure that early STEM programmes are improving actual understanding, not just activity participation.

In summary, there is no harm in starting STEM early – only in starting too late. The pre-primary and primary years are when children form attitudes to learning and acquire the mental frameworks that will support higher concepts. By integrating STEM exploration into early childhood and ensuring broad access, India (and other nations) can build a generation of confident innovators. Policymakers, educators, parents and NGOs each have a role. From classroom design to community science fairs, every effort adds up. The research and global experience both point to making STEM play a part of childhood as soon as curiosity blooms.

Sources: Peer-reviewed research and reports (including National Academies, OECD, UNESCO) and global benchmarks (e.g. NEP 2020) on early learning and STEM; along with case examples from Smile Foundation’s STEM programme.

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Benjamin Franklin may have said it centuries ago, but every young Indian sitting with an entrance exam admit card in one hand and a bank loan brochure in the other knows — it’s true and also complicated.

Let us tell you about Sidhi Lonkar, a spirited young woman from Pune. She was still reeling from her father’s loss when she sat for her 10th-grade exams. The idea of pursuing engineering seemed distant, perhaps even indulgent, in those shadowed days. But her mother, who had shelved her own educational dreams years ago, whispered insistently: Go ahead, do what I could not.

With Smile Foundation’s scholarship programme, the dream that had looked unreachable was not only closer, but tangible. Sidhi not only secured admission to a reputable engineering college but was handed a laptop, study materials and, most importantly, the quiet dignity of studying without that gnawing worry about where the next semester’s fees would come from.

Her story is not rare. It is one of thousands. But it neatly frames the paradox of higher education, that is of, its promise of liberation and its punishing financial chains.

Effect of Scholarships: Liberation Tied With Debt

Across India, education is still sold as the golden key. Crack JEE, ace NEET, land that B-school seat — the rewards are enormous. But the cost? Enormous too.

In recent years, the rising tide of education loans has swept across both developed and developing economies. In the US, student debt has ballooned into a trillion-dollar beast. Closer home, in India, education loans between 2019 and 2025 rose by a staggering 95.8%. What that means is that degrees increasingly come wrapped in EMIs.

And debt, as anyone who has carried it knows, is never just financial. It’s emotional.

A 2024 survey by Student Loan Planner revealed that 79% of students with loans felt anxious, 43.5% felt hopeless and 41.5% reported depression linked to their debt. That’s not just a balance sheet problem but a mental health crisis too.

Life Lived in Instalments

Educational debt creeps into every choice.

Graduates with loans don’t often take the jobs they love — they take the jobs that pay. Research, teaching, public service, social development, the arts — fields India badly needs talent in — get abandoned for the safer shores of IT packages and multinational offers.

It also delays life milestones. Should I marry? Should I buy a house? Can I afford to take a break, switch careers, study further? Every decision is measured against the invisible ledger of EMIs.

Debt makes you live life in instalments, long after the degree is framed on the wall.

The Other Path: Effect of Scholarships

Now, picture a young woman sitting at her desk, books open, ambitions swirling. But instead of the constant background hum of “loan repayment, loan repayment,” she hears something more pleasant like silence or freedom.

That’s what a scholarship does.

It isn’t just money. It is recognition. The gold effect of scholarships.

The economic relief is obvious with tuition fees covered, tools provided, stress lifted. But the psychological impact is profound. Scholarships bestow dignity. They validate not just need, but effort, merit, resilience.

And they motivate. Students with scholarships often feel compelled not by fear of debt but by faith placed in them. That faith can be transformative.

Take rural Rajasthan, where Smile Foundation’s Project Manzil scholarships have allowed girls to continue schooling instead of being nudged into early marriages. Or young engineers in Odisha who, instead of dropping out midway, finished their courses with laptops and stipends provided through Smile’s support.

One scholarship can alter not just one life, but a family’s trajectory. A mother rests easier, knowing she doesn’t need to mortgage land. A younger sibling dreams bolder, because they’ve seen what’s possible. A community gains role models — educated daughters who return as teachers, health workers, entrepreneurs.

This is the ripple effect debt can never create — but scholarships do, effortlessly.

Smile Foundation: Beyond Financial Aid

At Smile Foundation, scholarships are not just cheques. They’re carefully crafted bridges.

Through Mission Education, Smile has supported over 20,000 girls in continuing their education. That means tuition, yes, but also digital tools, inclusive infrastructure and mentorship. It means fighting dropout rates not by scolding but by supporting. It means seeing each student not as a statistic but as a story.

For Sidhi Lonkar, it meant not having to choose between her grief and her goals. For others, it means laptops in villages where even electricity is uncertain or vocational training that makes employability real.

And there’s a crucial difference here: where loans weigh down, scholarships lift up. Where debt narrows choices, scholarships expand them. Where EMIs eat into courage, scholarships feed it.

Why Scholarships Matter Now More Than Ever

We live in a time when education has never been more expensive or more necessary. India dreams of being a knowledge economy, a land of innovation and ideas. But how will we get there if half our young minds are bent under the weight of debt?

Scholarships are investments. They invest in ambition, in dignity, in possibility. They let education return to its true purpose — not to create earners chained to EMIs, but thinkers, builders, dreamers who can give back to society in ways money can’t always measure.

A Final Reflection

We’ve often thought that education should feel like walking into sunlight — not like walking with stones in your pockets.

Sidhi’s story is proof of that. Without the burden of loans, she could smile into her textbooks, not cry into bank slips. Her scholarship didn’t just buy her notebooks and a laptop — it bought her time, peace, dignity and the right to dream.

That’s what Smile Foundation is trying to do: remove the mask of debt and reveals the face of possibility.

And that’s the choice before us, as a society: will we let our youth live in debt or will we gift them dignity? Will we power their dreams with the effect of scholarships?

Because freedom, after all, doesn’t always wear a flag. Sometimes it looks like a scholarship letter, slipped into a young one’s hands.