TCS’ goIT October Monthly Challenge Rings a Bell for Quality Education

Despite monumental strides, equitable access to quality education remains both a North American and global challenge. According to UNICEF, 264 million children and adolescents around the world do not have the opportunity to enter or complete school, and the United Nations estimates that by 2030, 300 million students will not have basic numeracy and literacy skills needed to succeed— unless additional measures are taken now.

Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS’) goIT program is one of many initiatives trying to change this reality.

“We believe today’s youth can lead positive change when armed with creative ideas and the transformative potential of digital technology,” said Lina Klebanov, TCS’ Head of Corporate Social Responsibility in North America. “We’re using our goIT Monthly Challenge for October to help the younger generation lay a solid foundation for a brighter future and to ensure quality education and literacy are more accessible.”

Education is widely recognized as a fundamental human right and one of the most powerful tools for lifting people from poverty to prosperity. It reduces health disparities, narrows the gender gap for women and girls, removes economic disadvantages and barriers for broad groups, and more. In fact, UNESCO data reveals that if all adults completed secondary education, globally the number of poor people could be reduced by more than half. These are the reasons the United Nations has targeted ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all as its 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4. They are also the reasons TCS is partnering with Ek Kadam Aur Foundation and Wolters Kluwer to present the October goIT Monthly Challenge.

For the October goIT Monthly Challenge, TCS and partners invite students aged 6-18 to submit a three-minute video pitch for a digital innovation designed to help close the global literacy gap. The pitch should describe and explain the elements of a purposeful digital innovation — such as an app or a website — that can help address this significant world issue and, if actualized, which would make the world a better place. Winners can earn prizes, recognition, opportunities for mentorship and more.

Submission instructions and additional information about the October goIT Monthly Challenge is available at on.tcs.com/goIT-ENG.

About Ek Kadam Aur Foundation 
The Ek Kadam Aur - Foundation for Education and Health is a non-profit organization that works to provide children who have the fewest resources with the opportunities that can help them reach their full potential. The Foundation works to help uplift underprivileged children in India through a continuum of care, by seamlessly connecting grassroots work in education, health and rural resurgence. Ek Kadam Aur aims to address two of the most pressing childcare challenges – education and health. It works to bring children living in poverty into better health conditions and quality education through state-of-the-art technology. Ek Kadam Aur hopes to leave no stone unturned to help children with the least resources rise to the top.

About Wolters Kluwer 
Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services in the following sectors: health, tax & accounting, corporate performance & ESG, financial corporate compliance, and legal & regulatory. Wolters Kluwer, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, reported 2020 annual revenues of €5.5 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide.

About TCS’ goIT Digital Innovation and Career Readiness Program 
TCS’s Go Innovate Together program (goIT) is TCS’ flagship STEM education program. Focusing on digital innovation and career readiness, goIT engages students from diverse backgrounds to bridge the learning curve between Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects and computer science, design thinking and digital innovation. The program offers an industry-developed, customizable curriculum that teaches students the 21st century skills necessary for a career in technology. Lessons cover topics including design thinking, rapid prototyping, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, and more.

Since the launch of the goIT Monthly Challenge in 2020, thousands of students across the globe have used key principles from goIT to design tech-based solutions and submit pitch videos based on a monthly Challenge theme. Each month, TCS co-hosts the event with a Sustainable Development Goal ambassador, globally minded nonprofit or a TCS client. The Challenge has engaged a growing number of teachers and students every month, exploring topics ranging from gender equality and systemic racism to protecting life under water.

Visit the goIT Monthly Challenge competition website to learn how to involve students in upcoming challenges at: http://on.tcs.com/goIT-ENG