Post by Godrej Foundation

Shehzil Khan is just 13, but he's got his whole career planned out. He knows he wants to get into an IIT, study physics, work as an engineer, build a strong network, get into politics, and become Prime Minister. As PM, he also has the first two items on his manifesto listed out: fixing Delhi's air pollution and cleaning up the Ganga. These plans may seem ambitious for the son of a truck driver from a Pune slum, but Shehzil is already striding towards his IIT dream. Earlier this year, he ranked in the top 100 out of 10,000 students who sat for the Science Promotion Orient Test — an annual competitive exam organised by the Vikram Sarabhai Science Foundation to test scientific aptitude among Indian children. Shehzil is not the only one — 17 out of the top 100 students are from Pune's slum communities. All 17 are enrolled with The Panaah Communities, an organisation that conducts after-school classes for children from low-income neighbourhoods in Pune.   Founded in 2022, Panaah's efforts focus on the two academic extremes in school classrooms: those who need help with foundational literacy and numeracy, and those, like Shehzil, who rank in the top 5% of their classes. Students in the second group receive accelerated learning opportunities, much like the programmes in our own Tomorrow Makers platform. Through its work, Panaah aims to help young people from underserved homes the chance to build meaningful careers and break the cycle of poverty. Read more about the impact of Panaah's work in our detailed report: https://lnkd.in/eum_VxRu 📷 Aarefa Johari Sayed Mohammad Shoeb Hasnain Naqvi Aarshiya Das Ankita Pandey Omar Momin Supriya Nair Rajeev Anand Kushwah Palak Sadotra