The Skyward Project is a youth-led research and policy effort. It is about three things: fairness in education, real money skills, and how ready students are for life after school.
The research question
Among high-school students in Pune and Mumbai, how does financial literacy differ from one school board to another, and from one income group to another? And what do those differences tell us about who gets a real financial education and who does not?
Why it matters
Everyone has to save, borrow, use UPI, spot a scam, and plan ahead — and most people have to do all of it long before anyone explains how it works.
Just 27% of Indian adults are financially literate, against 52% in advanced economies. The World Economic Forum found that 51% of Indians struggle to keep up with their debts, compared with a global average of 32%.
Knowing how to send money is not the same as understanding debt, inflation, or interest.
No school is the default
Government, municipal, aided, low-fee private, mainstream private and vernacular-medium schools are each treated as their own group, with their own recruitment target. Results are reported group by group rather than blended into one average.
An unbalanced sample would only echo the experience of already advantaged schools, and miss the inequality the study exists to find.
What we are asking for
Introductions to faculty advisors and education researchers in Pune and Mumbai. Links to NGO partners in school education. A first pilot of about three schools across different boards. Guidance on research ethics and handling data for minors.
If you can help with any of these, write to us.