Unplugged Coding Program Wins Global Social Impact Award

Cognizant's volunteer-led 'Code Without Computers & AI' initiative — which teaches coding logic and AI awareness through physical, hands-on activities rather than hardware — has won the Cognizant Global Social Impact Award 2026, moving up from finalist to champion across 20+ urban and rural schools reaching 500+ students. The winning team, many wearing Cognizant lanyards and blue branded T-shirts, gathered for a group photo in front of a screen reading 'Thank you to the Global Selection Committee' — a visible, concrete moment of recognition for the volunteers who brought 21st-century skills to classrooms with little or no digital infrastructure. This proof point that tech literacy can travel without expensive equipment is a powerful reminder of why screen-free, skills-first approaches — like those at the heart of Next Skills 360 — matter so deeply for schools still building their way forward.

Coding Opens Doors for Students With Visual Impairments

At the Poona School and Home for Blind Boys — established in 1949 and pictured here with four team members gathered at its entrance — students with visual impairments who had never encountered coding a year ago are now solving challenges and building digital skills through the ProGame Tactile Digital Skilling Program. The Year 1 review of this three-year initiative, supported by Bajaj FinServ and AssisTech Foundation, centred not on targets alone but on the real stories behind them: teachers witnessing possibilities they never imagined, and students discovering that technology is well within their reach. As the program moves into Year 2, the message from classrooms is clear — the barrier was never ability, it was access.

Chitram Turns Doodles Into Vocabulary Learning Breakthroughs

Chitram, an AI-powered multilingual platform from Next Skills 360, invites students in Classes 1–5 to sketch words rather than memorise them, with an LLM-driven engine delivering instant, personalised feedback on every doodle. Designed for government schools, low-income private schools, and private schools alike, the app runs on any phone or tablet and bridges offline classroom and online home learning so foundational literacy stays uninterrupted. Chitram is available now on the Google Play Store.