New Delhi, July 25: The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, in association with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), has announced the launch of Youth Ideathon (YI24). This school-level innovation and entrepreneurship competition is aimed at harnessing the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit among young minds.

The five-stage competition will be held online in the initial stages and is open to all school students across India in two categories: junior (Class 4 to Class 8) and senior (Class 9 to Class 12). Students will compete in teams of 3 to 5 members from the same school. The competition will culminate in a grand finale October 6, 2024.

The theme of this year's Youth Ideathon is "iStartup a Good Thing for India." The Ideathon attracted over 1.5 lakh students from more than 8000 schools in 2023, this year, it aims to have a participation of over 2 lakh students across ten thousand schools.

Dr. Biswajit Saha, Director (Skill Education & Training), CBSE, Ministry of Education, Government of India said, "Entrepreneurship is an essential pillar of the New Education Policy 2020 and Government of India has taken several steps to build entrepreneurial thinking in all students. Youth Ideathon platform allows students to think bravely and showcase their talents."

Mamta Kumari, Deputy General Manager, SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India), said, "Initiatives like Youth Ideathon 2024 play a pivotal role in nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit among young minds. Through our efforts, we have created over 200 internships for school students, providing them with hands-on experience in various fields such as technology, website management, content creation, digital marketing, and student mobilization."

According to Shivani Singh-Kapoor, Co-founder, of ThinkStartup, "If you have to build future job-creators, you have to catch them young, harness their creativity and help them see the power of innovation and entrepreneurship. Youth Ideathon endeavours to empower the next generation nurturing high-potential student ideas with incubation support."

The Youth Ideathon 2024 is supported by industry partners like Esri India, India's leading Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) company, and MediaTek and SheAtWork.

Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India said. "By supporting such innovative platforms, we aim to contribute to the country's growth, generating more startups, creating jobs, and cultivating ground breaking ideas. This knowledge exchange is vital for the future, and we are excited to see the incredible potential that Youth Ideathon 2024 will unleash."

Ruby Sinha, Founder, SheAtWork and President, BRICS CCI WE said, "We are optimistic that initiatives like these will help harness the power of innovation and entrepreneurship for a brighter future for women. SheAtWork and BRICS CCI WE will be felicitating the winning idea by a girl student/team in Youth Ideathon 2024."

Participants will receive certificates, and top teams will compete for incubation grants up to Rs. 100,000. Special recognition will be given to teachers, mentors, and schools with high participation rates. Youth Ideathon is India's largest program to promote startup ideas among school students.

(ANI)

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