Consultant – High-Potential Students

About the Programme

India’s school education system serves ~25 crore children. Many of these students come from underserved communities and face systemic gaps in identification and support. With most interventions beginning only after Grade 10, much of this potential remains untapped and underdeveloped.

To bridge this gap, CSF introduced a new workstream, High Potential Students (HPS), in 2025 to support India’s bright young minds from underprivileged backgrounds in becoming future innovators, researchers, and leaders. By 2030, we aim to transform the learning journeys of 1 lakh students by equipping them with the skills, support and exposure needed to thrive in higher education and high-growth careers. Through this work, we are committed to advancing equity and excellence, empowering young minds from every corner of India to realise their full potential.

As part of this workstream, CSF is launching a one-year initiative in Gujarat, in partnership with the Education Department, Government of Gujarat, to strengthen the state’s STEM learning ecosystem. The initiative works across two connected strands. The first strengthens the capacity of Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) trainers across the state through a statewide diagnostic study, a digital learning hub, regional training workshops and a Master Trainer network. The second is a statewide STEM Excellence Challenge that identifies and nurtures high-potential student innovators across residential model schools, taking them from school-level innovation workshops through a multi-stage selection process to a state-level finale. Designed as a pilot, the initiative aims to generate evidence and a replicable model for statewide and multi-state expansion.

Job Description

HPS is looking for a motivated early-career professional to anchor data, reporting and coordination for the Gujarat STEM initiative. The consultant will build and run the programme’s monitoring and reporting systems, and coordinate day to day across government stakeholders, implementation partners and participating schools to keep delivery on track. The role requires thoughtful problem-solving, critical engagement with information and a high degree of ownership.

Please note that this role will be based in Gujarat and will require close, day-to-day coordination with the Education Department, Government of Gujarat and other relevant government stakeholders, along with regular travel to schools and districts across the state.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build and maintain the programme’s monitoring and tracking systems across both strands, including gender-disaggregated indicators

• Collect, clean and analyse implementation data from partners, schools and the field, and synthesise it into actionable insights

• Prepare regular progress reports, review decks and documentation for internal teams, government stakeholders and partners

• Coordinate on a day-to-day basis with the Education Department, Government of Gujarat, district officials, implementation partners and participating schools

• Support delivery of the STEM Excellence Challenge, including school onboarding, workshop scheduling, tracking of student submissions, shortlisting and finale logistics

• Support the ATL strand, including the diagnostic study, teacher onboarding and uptake tracking on the learning hub, and coordination of regional workshops

• Undertake field and monitoring visits to schools and labs, and document observations and agreed follow-up actions

• Conduct secondary research and support case documentation, storytelling and knowledge creation for the programme

Eligibility & Requirements:

• Pursuing or recently completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Economics, Law, Public Policy, Education, Social Work or related fields

• 0–4 years of experience, including exposure to working with or alongside government stakeholders

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; comfortable working with data to generate actionable insights (Proficiency in MS Excel)

• Proficiency in creating structured, visually clear presentations (PowerPoint/Google Slides)

• Ability to synthesise complex information into concise, well-structured narratives

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Willingness to be based in Gujarat and travel regularly to schools and districts across the state

Desirable qualities:

• Prior exposure to the Indian education sector (internships/projects included)

• Interest in or exposure to STEM education, tinkering labs, or student innovation programmes

• Familiarity with major Indian education datasets (e.g., UDISE+, NAS, ASER)

• Basic understanding of tools like Power BI for data analytics

• Working proficiency in Gujarati

What we are looking for:

• Works independently with minimal supervision, demonstrating intellectual honesty and strong ownership

• Curious and quick to learn; able to work across multiple projects

• Comfortable working in the field and coordinating with a wide range of stakeholders

• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to manage timelines

Duration of the Consultancy:

Contract term through March 2027, with continuation subject to performance review.

About Central Square Foundation (CSF)

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working on the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. We are driven by our mission to transform the school education system with a focus on improving learning outcomes of children, especially from low-income communities.

We believe that ensuring Universal, Early, Conceptual and Procedural Mastery of Foundational Skills is absolutely essential for the overall success of the education system. In order to achieve this, we partner with individuals and social impact organizations to bring innovative solutions in education, as well as work with the government to drive systemic impact. We collaborate with the ecosystem to leverage knowledge, build evidence and create proven tools around critical issues such as early learning, EdTech, classroom instruction methods and governance.

We also support exceptional social entrepreneurs with powerful ideas, undertake application-oriented research, provide a platform for sharing of innovation, and collaborate with other stakeholders in the ecosystem to find policy solutions - all towards enabling sustained change in India’s educational system.

CSF’s team members bring a deep sense of commitment and passion towards our collective vision that every child deserves quality education. We strive for excellence in everything we do and collaborate to create an impact as we move closer to achieving our mission. We encourage an entrepreneurial outlook that evokes new and bold ideas along with taking smart risks. CSF provides a dynamic, learning and positive environment that is driven by our strong sense of values.