Centre of Excellence (CoE)

The Shikshagraha Centre of Excellence is a hub for collectively building an understanding of how to make public schools the first choice for every child in India. All of this comes together on Shikshagraha Commons, an open platform where partners can access and build on the movement's tools, research and solutions.

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The mission

Why the CoE

The Shikshagraha Centre of Excellence (CoE) brings research, evidence and shared tools into one place for the use of everyone part of the movement.

Speed of Impact

Learn faster from each other, so progress compounds across the network.

Collectivising Voices

Evidence gathered together gives the network one voice in policy and decision-making.

Cross-learning

Structured spaces to exchange practices, research and tools.

How it Works

Built and shaped by a wide ecosystem

The CoE is built and shaped by a wide ecosystem: academic institutions, design labs, domain experts, partner CSOs, Shikshagraha teams and strategic partners.

Together, they create reusable resources, such as assessments and implementation handbooks, and work on the questions that shape the movement, from what makes movements succeed to how government, civil society and markets can drive change together.

How it Works

Focus areas for 2026-27

Knowledge Building

Looking outward and inward at how movements form, to inform Shikshagraha's own strategy and advocate for it more broadly.

Movement Design

Building a shared understanding of the big questions Shikshagraha is working to answer, and the interactions needed to answer them.

Shikshagraha Commons

Shikshagraha Commons aims to become India's first open, AI-enabled movement infrastructure for education, where solutions are codified, adopted, tracked and continuously improved.

Convenings

Spaces that turn the CoE's work into shared learning and action across the network.

Impact

Evidence in Action

Parent Participation & Perception Index

Around 60% of parents surveyed (n=2,600) report seeing improvement in their child's learning or confidence this year, though only 45% say they actively support their children's studies at home.

Education Budgets Study

India's education financing data is fragmented across states, with no unified way to see where money goes or track the gap between what's allocated and spent. The CoE is mapping this to make it visible for the first time.

Research on Shaping Movements

A partnership with the Government Outcomes Lab (University of Oxford) is studying how governments can support grassroots education movements like Shikshagraha, presented at the Social Outcomes Conference 2025.

Explore the Shikshagraha Commons