Payal Rajpal: Bringing Back the Learning Standards in Low Stratum Society through Robotics, AI, Coding, and STEM Education

Technology provides students with easy-to-access information, accelerated learning experiences, and fun-filled opportunities to practice what they learn. These activities enable students to explore new subjects and deepen their understanding of difficult concepts, particularly in STEM. Schools are incorporating emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality, into the classroom. The core aim is to trigger innovative and engaging teaching methods that promote an immersive learning experience.

Robotex India's mission is to unite global expertise aiming toward impacting technological innovation advocacy on building future-ready and pandemic-proof systems, educating students on co-curricular fit for the 21st century, addressing the disconnect between degree and skills, bridging the digital divide to build a solid foundation for future generations, and safeguarding their career goals by initiating avenues towards increased employment options.

A Pioneer Using Tech to Impart Education

Payal Rajpal is the Director of Robotex India. She is a futurist, educationist, and entrepreneur. As an IT graduate from India with a distinct vision for the future, Payal had an amazing journey from the London School of Economics to founding 'Hack a Cause' and heading South Asia Robotex. She has over a decade and a half of leadership experience with businesses across the UK and Asia. She has been a part of companies like Cable & Wireless, Caudwell Group, and Hutchinson Whampoa, specializing in areas of integrating businesses, strategic management, IT, ITES, FDI, executive coaching, innovation, and skill development, digital start-ups, and social ventures.

Upon relocation from the UK to India in 2010, Payal envisioned bridging the gap between industry and academia by setting up innovation centers with an aim to elevate success rates on employability.

In 2015, she also started advising Indian stock-listed manufacturing and IT companies on Foreign Direct Investment in Finland, Estonia, and India, a conglomerate of companies worth US$2 billion in FDI.

Payal launched an educational platform, 'Study in Estonia' in India in 2017, providing access to advanced technology and 'future skills' education in Europe. She has successfully spearheaded industry and academia collaborations, the Ministry of Education of Estonia, and India's multilateral ties for a collaborative ecosystem of research and innovation with a mission to elevate the Indian entrepreneurship, enterprise, and start-up ecosystem.

Building an Intellectual, Innovative, and Incredible India through AI

Payal Rajpal is a pioneer in bringing robotics, AI, coding, and STEAM education to government schools in urban, tribal, and rural areas. Her vision with Robotex, a non-profit organization, is to bring future skills to remote villages in India. Children from every village in India should have the opportunity to learn advanced digital skills to help build an intellectual, innovative, and incredible India. Robotex International, the mother organization is a 21-year-old non-profit organization from Estonia, the land of technology innovations and entrepreneurship. In these championships, students get a hint of industry and academia collaboration plus scholarship opportunities, at the national and international levels. The impact of Robotex International competitions is focused on preparing young talents for careers through employable and entrepreneurial future skills.

Robotex India, thus far, has coached over 20,000 government school students, with a stupendous corporate ecosystem and CSR support. 'Girls who Build Robots' and 'Robotex for Rural' are some of the patent programs of the company. In the pandemic era, employing an online model, it had taught around 30,000 underprivileged students from government schools, to solve real-world problems through capstone projects in robotics in areas such as environment, agriculture, waste management, and social causes.

As a founder of 'Hack the Crisis, India', Payal played a big role in successfully executing two COVID19 solution finding Hackathons in April 2020- 'Hack the Crisis- India' being the largest in India with 15000 participants, and 'Global Hack', the first digital initiative with Ministry of Electronics and IT India MEITY, MyGov India, Digital India. 'Hack the Crisis' mobilized the top 50 solutions globally and formed a resilience accelerator in association with the MEITY Start-up Hub.

She has coached people in corporate leadership at more than 100 companies and spoken on over 500 global platforms. Payal is also the vertical head for Ficci Flo, Pune, empowering and impacting the lives of over 10,000 women through various skilling projects and initiatives by raising US$10 million since 2015. She is an advisory to 'Let's Do It, India' and 'Ambitious Africa' and an awardee of accolades like Women in Business Rising Star to Top Women in Technology, and Top 100 Global Influencers.

Bequeathing Pandemic Challenges into Literacy Purposes 

When the pandemic hit causing an involuntary shift in the virtual environment, it also took away the ability of classroom learning for rural and government school students. Payal knew that it was about time to find the best possible option to help these eager learners. Robotex India replicated the offline teaching module to a country-wide digital solution. The company successfully taught robotics, coding, and AI to the students who came from the low stratum of society, suffered a digital divide, had no access to computers, electricity, or Wi-Fi, and come from single-device families.

Mending the Learning Gaps in India's Rural Bases

'Robotics for Rural' and 'Girls who Build Robots' initiatives were launched to make 'future skills' affordable and accessible to government school students, democratizing new future skills in co-curricular education to bridge the 'Education to Employability' gap. Robotex India is a platform that allows children to showcase their talents not only in India but globally, by showcasing their technological innovations in the national, Asian, and international Robotex championships. This way the rural and government school students also get an opportunity to participate in various STEM and robotics competitions.

Creating Better Career Prospects

Robotex India plans to train 2 million students from government schools and rural areas, helping them to have better career prospects and jobs to uplift their lives. With that said, the company has already coached over 20,000 government school students, thus far, with a stupendous corporate ecosystem and CSR support. 'Girls who Build Robots' and 'Robotex for Rural' are the two most patent programs of the company. In the pandemic era, hundreds of underprivileged students from government schools were educated digitally in an all-online model. These are all capstone projects solving real-world problems including environment, agriculture, waste management, and social causes.

Forging Partnerships to Deploy Successful Educational Practices

Partnerships with corporates for CSR are a huge driver of Robotex's initiatives. Forums like Ficci Flo and Rotary associations, and collaborations with state and tribal governments have helped the company to get the on-ground beneficiaries.