EY, Navodaya launch app to boost girls' entry into STEM education

The Vigyan Jyoti Programme (VJP) is one of the most ambitious initiatives of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, with the ultimate objective of increasing gender parity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

To achieve this goal, the VJP mandates or implements valuable interventions at the school level through mentoring and training of the young meritorious girls in STEM.

A new app has been jointly launched by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and EY Foundation to create a virtual global community of girls in STEM. EY Foundation signed an MoU with Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and launched the EY STEM app across 200 VJP schools.

This gamified mobile app for girls aged 13-18 years was launched to ensure women have equal chances to enter, remain, and thrive in the science & technology industry.

What the app aims to do

The EY STEM app is designed to help young girls engage in the STEM curriculum and pursue a high-growth career in the technology sector. It aims to reach 10,000 girl students under the VJP. The partnership between VJP schools under the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and EY Foundation has been facilitated by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA).

EY aims to inspire 100,000 girls globally in 2022 to pursue a career in STEM with the EY STEM app.

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The free-to-use app connects users with a wide range of learning activities, from exploring new technologies, such as AI and blockchain, to learn how design thinking can help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges.

Supported by the inspirational stories of pioneering women, the app aims to nurture confidence and competence in STEM, and develop capabilities such as critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and systems thinking, and social skills and teamwork.

“As the Prime Minister noted in a meeting on the National Education Policy 2020, multiple initiatives have been set up to achieve the policy’s objectives of ‘access, equity, inclusivity and quality. For successful implementation of various initiatives with these objectives underlying them, partnerships between the government and industry will be crucial to intensify the impact,” remarked Professor Ajay Sood, PSA, to the Government of India.

The partnership between the Ministry of Education’s Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and the EY Foundation is timely and exemplary in this direction. I extend congratulations on behalf of my office on the launch of the EY STEM app to all partners involved,” said the professor.

STEM careers

Santosh Pathak – Head at EY Foundation, said, “With the EY STEM app, we endeavour to stimulate young minds to learn and pursue high-growth STEM careers and attain their potential to become future leaders.”

With this partnership with Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, the EY Foundation Head said that they hope to make the EY STEM app more accessible and motivate many girls to embrace STEM learning in their higher studies in the coming years

The Vigyan Jyoti Program (VJP), launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India in 2019, is a flagship initiative to encourage meritorious girls, particularly from Class IX to Class XII, to pursue a career in STEM fields, where women are under-represented.

The DST’s implementing partner for the VJP is the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, an autonomous body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

DST also has several other women-centric initiatives under the umbrella scheme “Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN)” to provide different kinds of opportunities to women in the Science & Technology domain. The programs under the WISE-KIRAN scheme promote STEM careers amongst women and address their various challenges.