Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Sampark Foundation Invests ₹25 Crore To Expand Smart Schools And AI-Led Governance


As part of its 20-year milestone, Sampark Foundation intends to support 20,000 additional smart schools, alongside the deployment of an AI-based classroom governance and real-time monitoring platform across nearly 80,000 government schools in eight Indian states.

Sampark Foundation has unveiled a significant expansion of its efforts to transform learning and improve educational outcomes in government schools across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh, through an investment of ₹25 crore. The announcement comes as the Foundation completes 20 years of driving innovation and impact in public education.

As part of this expansion, the Foundation will support the creation of 20,000 additional smart schools across the eight states, aligned with the National Education Policy’s vision of digitally empowered classrooms. Under this initiative, Sampark TV will be installed free of cost in government schools where smart televisions or smart boards already exist or are planned, alongside structured teacher training to enable effective classroom integration.

A parallel focus of this expansion is the deployment of an AI-based, real-time classroom monitoring and governance platform, planned to be rolled out across 80,000 government schools. The platform will enable district, block, and school-level education officials to track teaching data, monitor classroom engagement, and predict learning outcomes, strengthening evidence-based decision-making and accountability within the public education system. This first-of-its-kind platform will be implemented at no cost across all covered schools.

Letters of intent have been formally shared with all eight state governments, marking the next phase of collaboration to scale technology-enabled, student-centric learning across public education systems. Speaking on the announcement, Mr. Vineet Nayar, Founder and Chairman, Sampark Foundation, said, “Twenty years ago, Sampark Foundation began with a simple idea: every child deserves a learning experience that excites the mind and sparks curiosity, regardless of geography or circumstance. As we renew our efforts to deepen partnerships with state governments, we aim to create classrooms where curiosity thrives and learning outcomes improve meaningfully and sustainably.”

Dr. K. Rajeswara Rao, President, Sampark Foundation and former Special Secretary, NITI Aayog, added, “The future of public education lies in the intelligent use of data, technology, and governance. The AI-based monitoring platform will enable education leaders at every level to respond faster, plan better, and ensure accountability where it matters most – in the classroom. This initiative represents a significant step towards institutionalising data-driven decision-making in government school systems.”

In addition, the Foundation will host large state-level AI Education Conclaves in March 2026 across each of the eight states, focused on the theme “AI Revolution in Education,” bringing together policymakers, practitioners, and global experts to advance dialogue on the future of technology-enabled learning.

Committed to strengthening education delivery across India and fostering a love of learning in every child, Sampark Foundation works closely with state governments to ensure inclusive access to quality education. Through its flagship Sampark Smart Shala programme, the Foundation has reached over 1.8 crore children across more than 1.4 lakh government schools, trained over 8.5 lakh teachers, and established 40,000 smart classrooms that enhance teaching and learning experiences nationwide. Over the past two decades, what began as a vision has evolved into one of the world’s largest education movements, documented as a Harvard Case Study and recognised globally among leading large-scale education innovations.

About Sampark Foundation

Sampark Foundation was founded by Anupama Nayar and Vineet Nayar (Former Vice Chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies and author of Harvard Business Press bestseller” Employees First, Customer Second”) with a committed investment of INR 1000 Cr with the belief that “frugal innovation” and its practical implementation in partnership with the government can drive large-scale improvement in learning outcomes.

Currently, the Sampark Smart Shala program is impacting over 1.8 crore children by implementing 1.4 lac primary government schools in 8 states (Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand). Many third-party surveys have shown that in the schools where the Sampark Smart Shala has been implemented, there is a marked increase in the number of children who answered grade-level questions in Math and English. For example, according to Feedback Consulting, a research organisation, in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, there has been a 43, 32 and 36 per cent improvement in children's performance in 2024-2025.

About Vineet Nayar

Vineet Nayar is the Founder & Chairman of Sampark Foundation and former CEO of HCL Technologies, a leading IT firm whose transformation was architected from $0.7 billion in 2005 to $4.7 Billion in 2013 by Vineet, which led HCL’s management practices being taught as a case study in Harvard Business School. He is also the author of the highly acclaimed management book, “Employee First, Customers Second – Turning Conventional Management Upside Down which has sold 100,000 copies. Vineet has been cited in “Forbes 48 Heroes of Philanthropy 2016 for the pedagogical innovations the Foundation has brought into classrooms. He is also an acknowledged management visionary and a radical thinker and has been included in the elite “Thinkers 50 List” in 2011-2012, listing the world’s top 50 business leaders.

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