Our work in India
Since 2024, Youth Impact has been working in India with a coalition of partners including the Government of Karnataka to scale evidence-based numeracy skills using technology at primary-school level. In India, the program is called Ganitha Ganaka.
180,000 students
93 blocks
35,000 teachers trained
Context
Despite progress in increasing access to primary school education, the state of Karnataka faces a learning crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe teacher shortage. Most of the 1.5 million primary students lack foundational numeracy, risking long-term educational setbacks. According to the 2024 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), only 23% of Karnataka’s Standard 3 students can perform division.
The interventions
In India, the local name for the ConnectEd program is Ganitha Ganaka. Learn more about the program here.
ConnectEd is a phone-based tutoring program that delivers targeted instruction and foundational maths and literacy lessons. Designed for low-connectivity settings, it boosts learning using a basic mobile phone, with no internet and no apps required.
Spotlight
We are leveraging our participation in the AI for Global Development Accelerator, supported by OpenAI, the Center for Global Development, and the Agency Fund, to bring cutting-edge AI solutions to this initiative. We are enhancing Ganitha Ganaka by integrating AI innovations aimed at making the program more scalable, user-friendly, and impactful while reducing manual efforts and improving data accuracy.
Government partnership
In May 2025, Youth Impact signed a formal partnership with the Government of Karnataka to expand Ganitha Ganaka to 1.35 million students across 38,000 primary schools. This partnership includes a mandate for Youth Impact to provide technical assistance in order to improve systems for learning outcomes and better foundational literacy and numeracy status in the State.
