More than what meets the eye
Quarterly Report, Oct-Dec ‘25
Sometimes when work is
steady but progress feels invisible
Not all days are for reaping fruits, or for sowing the field. Some of them are turnaround periods –
to clear the residue, plough deeply, and restore fertility.
After an eventful period, that’s how the quarter felt at Medha – with consistent data maintenance for integrity, preparation to conduct evidence-based studies, and continuing workshops with government teachers and placement officers.
When no one big milestone leaps to attention, it’s good to remember that results make 20% of a process that is largely invisible. This rings especially true for system adoption – where change requires multiple levers to work together.
Results in student impact aren't easy to track directly, and embedding change takes years of patient cultivation. The work is real, even when milestones feel distant.
In that doubt, seeing the change in your community
builds your confidence
Transparent attendance tracking during on-the-job training helps instructors monitor progress and lower student drop-out rates. A new online portal enables this for public vocational training institutes in Haryana, a key industrial state in India, with over 567 instructors and principals trained to use it.
When young people build life skills early, they're better equipped to navigate education, work, and relationships. Svapoorna, our life skills program, will now be a part of the core curriculum with monthly reviews across 664 schools in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India.
When students co-lead placement efforts, they develop leadership skills and create peer networks for life. Uttar Pradesh's vocational training system has approved student-led placement cells for all 286 government vocational training institutes, with 5 students per institute to work alongside placement officers.
Long travels and multiple meetings add up to
trust teachers place in you
In Bihar, India's youngest state by population, we are working with 100 government vocational training institutes to build campus readiness. That’s a 7-member team providing continuous capacity-building,industry linking, placement support, parent-teacher connect, and on-ground visits.
"Medha pe humara haq hai (Medha belongs to us, too)”, says Rahul, Principal, Government ITI Siwan and Maharajganj, Bihar. With the support of Bihar’s Youth, Employment, and Skill Development Department, a new cohort of young teachers is creating opportunities for youth from underserved communities.
Slowly, facilitators and placement officers are helping youth and parents change their mindset – from only government job preparation over years, to joining apprenticeship in a new city, creating a plan B, and uplifting themselves economically.
To an outsider, Shokin and Rohit are typical 19-year-old college students – attending classes, meeting friends. But what goes unseen are their late-night editing sessions, failed e-commerce ventures, and detailed plans for a water brand.
Shokin's father, a businessman, does not press them for details. While Rohit's parents push for a government job with little idea about his business ventures. The two decided early to quietly keep building until the numbers are too big to dismiss - an audacious goal of ₹4-5 crore monthly revenue.
With a design agency generating consistent revenue, Shokin and Rohit reinvest every rupee they make. "We're saving everything now," says Shokin, "so when the big idea comes, we're ready." Both have attended Medha's Technical Advancement Bootcamp (TAB).
That’s when you learn - the unglamorous is foundational, the mundane is the backbone
In India, over 120 million youth are currently neither employed nor in education, with young women and rural youth hit hardest. The problem is of uninformed career decisions made without guidance, shaping lifetime earning potential.
The solution exists: evidence from field research, innovation models, and frameworks like NEP 2020 show that structured career guidance helps students align interests with market demand. A new report by JustJobs Network and Medha maps how to embed career guidance systematically into India's education system. Read here.
