Central Square Foundation
About Central Square Foundation:
Established in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to enhancing the learning outcomes of all school going children across India through system-led reforms. Our initiatives span innovation and policy to practice and focus on learning impact at scale. At the heart of CSF's mission is our strategic focus on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), which drives our collaborative efforts with 11 state governments to design and execute statewide FLN Missions. Additionally, we prioritise EdTech integration, aiming to deploy digital solutions for in-class and at-home learning and establish evidence-based practices while harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to augment learning outcomes. CSF is deeply committed to Early Childhood Education (ECE) reforms, recognising the critical role it plays in laying a strong groundwork for children's learning journey, thereby augmenting FLN outcomes. CSF also works in the area of School Governance, extending its system-level approach to children in both private and government schools, to strengthen the country's education landscape.
As an organization, we aim to reduce learning poverty in India by working towards improving the outcomes of children in foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN). This involves working with:
- National and state governments to prioritize FLN as the most critical focus area for reform.
- Establishing project management units at the national and state levels to work on critical workstreams that impact classroom practice, teacher capacity building, state monitoring systems, and system assessments.
- Investing in strategic EdTech interventions to improve FLN both at home and in school.
- Developing public goods that can be adopted by any state government for free.
- Nurturing a FLN partner ecosystem in India to foster collective action in support of national and state governments.
- Continuously exploring solutions to improve governance, such as phone-based assessments and district project management units.
To learn more about us and our work, please visit our website at www.centralsquarefoundation.org.
"FLN State Reform" in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh:
Central Square Foundation has developed a comprehensive playbook to support state governments in undertaking large-scale reform initiatives. This playbook involves close collaboration with the State Project Directors' offices and the development of a 5 to 7-year roadmap to fundamentally transform critical workstreams. You can find more information on this initiative by following the link provided here - Critical Workstreams for FLN.
We have been working closely with the education departments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana since 2019. A version of our initial playbook in these states has also been adopted by the Ministry of Education when they launched the NIPUN Bharat mission.
For the next three years, Central Square Foundation is committed to raising resources and operating in these states with a focus on stabilizing the aforementioned inputs and then guiding all districts towards a situation where the majority of students achieve FLN competence by the time they cross grade 3. This would involve the following initiatives:
- Strengthening the project management units in each state and adopting districts to drive implementations through district project management units established by the government.
- Working closely with the Mission Director to continuously iterate the design of all academic inputs based on insights from the field. Additionally, influencing the state leadership to prevent any rollback of design changes already achieved.
- Collaborating with the Mission Director to improve the quality of data collected by mentors and other stakeholders regarding classroom observations and student assessments from all districts.
- Supporting all districts in understanding their progress with respect to the mission implementation and helping them develop action plans to achieve the mission's goals.
- Working closely with the State Mission Director to strengthen the district PMU by running FLN fellowships or placing CSF teams in select districts.
Project Lead Role
FLN reforms in UP, MP, and Haryana are managed by a "state reform team" within the Central Square Foundation. This team works from Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal, and Panchkula. In the next few years, as we move into the deeper end of the NIPUN Bharat mission in these states, we will also take up assignments and projects based in districts.
A project lead works very closely with the State Project Lead/Project Director to take on a major body of work for the state reform team. These components could be specific to a particular state or central in nature, helping CSF achieve its reform goals in all three states. Below are brief descriptions of possible bodies of work one would do as a project lead in the state reform team:
1.Manage multiple work streams related to the NIPUN Bharat mission.
2.Manage an FLN fellowship program for the state (applicable for UP and MP).
3.Manage CSF-led District accelerator programs.
4.Monitoring and performance management of state project management teams.
What would make you a good fit for the role:
Project lead roles in UP, MP, and Haryana are a perfect opportunity to understand how large-scale educational reform takes shape. If you are keen to participate and influence a state to embark on that journey, this is the perfect role for you. This role provides an opportunity for one to take on a complex project and set up a high-performing team with a span of 3-5 project managers to drive outcomes in the context of government reform. So, if you are transitioning from being an individual performer to a team lead, this could be a great role. Below are the skills that would be necessary for individuals to possess:
- Bachelor's degree required from a reputed university; Master's degree preferred.
- Prior experience working with government stakeholders is required.
- 6 to 9 years of post-qualification work experience, preferably with a government entity, with a superb project delivery and management track record.
- Ability to analyze complex problems, craft possible solutions and recommendations.
- Action-biased and strong planning skills, ability to set priorities, plan, and meet timelines.
- Excellent communication skills: oral and written, in both English and Hindi.
- Ability to build and maintain positive and collaborative relationships with government stakeholders.
- Ability to lead a team of young professionals and drive them to achieve outcomes.
- Prior exposure to the education sector, public/developmen5t sector, or consulting will be preferred. However, people with corporate experience but an interest in the education sector are also encouraged to apply.
- Mission-driven, optimistic, and enthusiastic, believing in achieving transformational change.
- Willingness to be based at the state site closer to the stakeholders and team. Openness to regular travel to Delhi and different districts in UP, MP, and Haryana.
