iDreamCareer
Provides career, education, and guidance counselling to students
- FCRA
- 80G
- 12A
- CSR-1
About
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Headquarters
New Delhi, Delhi
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Since
2013
Sure — here’s a simple, clean version of that write-up without any formatting: --- iDreamCareer provides career guidance and counseling services Read more to students across India, with a strong focus on supporting students from underserved backgrounds. Alongside its work with private schools, iDreamCareer partners with CBSE, state governments including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Odisha (Sundargarh), and leading development partners like the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF), UNDP, Miracle Foundation, Magic Bus, and the Central Square Foundation (CSF) to deliver large-scale career guidance programs for government school students. A key goal of these programs is to increase the Eligible Enrollment Ratio (EER) by helping more students move from school to higher education through informed and realistic career choices. One example is Project SAARTHI in Uttar Pradesh, a public-private-philanthropic initiative run with the Department of Secondary Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, and funded by MSDF. Launched in 2023, SAARTHI helps students in classes 10 to 12 make better education and career decisions with structured guidance and support. In UP, SAARTHI is being implemented in Lucknow, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Kanpur, reaching 27,000 students directly and over 445,000 students digitally through the UP Pankh Portal. The program has delivered over 10,000 psychometric assessments and more than 42,000 one-on-one counseling sessions. Students also get access to a digital dashboard with information on over 560 careers, 25,000 colleges, and 1,600 scholarships. The project includes an outbound helpline to help students with college and scholarship applications and track admissions. An independent quasi-RCT study showed that SAARTHI increased the EER by 11.52% — the control group had an EER of 62.9% while the treatment group reached 74.42%. Lucknow saw the highest gains at 16.07% and Varanasi at 10.58%. The EER for male students increased by 13.02% and for female students by 12.54%. In addition to UP, iDreamCareer’s project with the DEO Sundargarh, supported by DMF Sundargarh, reached 50,000 students across 450 plus government schools, training 900 to deliver psychometric assessments, personalized counseling, and updated career information. By combining awareness workshops, assessments, one-on-one guidance, parent engagement, teacher training, and strong monitoring, iDreamCareer ensures students get the right support to plan for higher education. With strong partnerships with CBSE, state governments, and funders like MSDF, iDreamCareer continues to help India increase its Eligible Enrollment Ratio and open up better education and career pathways for millions of students.
Issue
a. Low Tertiary Education Participation India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education stands at 28.4%, with only a marginal increase of 1.4% over the last five years. In contrast, the global average GER is 36.7%, and peer economies like Brazil (51.3%) and China (49.1%) are far ahead, highlighting India’s significant gap. b. High Dropout Rates Recent government data shows that while India’s school dropout rates have steadily declined—with current rates at 1.9% for primary, 5.2% for upper primary, and 14.1% for secondary levels—retention remains a significant concern, as only 63.8% of students who start in Class 1 reach Class 10, and just 45.6% reach Class 12, meaning less than half of all students complete higher secondary education This sharp attrition is reflected in the transition from Class 10 to 12, where more than half of students drop out before finishing school, and the situation is even starker beyond Class 12, with the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for higher secondary standing at 56.2% and dropping further for higher education Additionally, the challenge of disengaged youth is acute: estimates suggest that about 25% of Indian youth aged 15 to 24 are not engaged in education, training, entrepreneurship, or employment, with the proportion rising even higher for young women, highlighting persistent gaps in both educational attainment and workforce participation c. Limited Career Awareness A staggering 75–85% of students restrict themselves to just 6–8 career choices, underlining a severe lack of career awareness, guidance, and counseling.
Action
iDreamCareer (iDC) is working to ensure that every student in India — regardless of income or background — has access to structured career guidance that helps them make informed decisions about higher education and careers. What iDC does: - Partners with CBSE, state governments (UP, Punjab, Odisha – Sundargarh) and leading funders (MSDF, UNDP, CSF) to implement large-scale career guidance programs in government schools. - Runs Career Awareness Workshops, psychometric assessments, and one-on-one counseling in Hindi and other regional languages, making guidance accessible to students in Classes 9–12. - Provides students with digital career portals, scholarship information, and college entrance details to support better planning. - Engages parents and trains teachers so that career guidance is reinforced at home and in schools. - Offers helplines and follow-up support to help students complete college and scholarship applications. Tracks outcomes with a robust Monitoring & Evaluation framework, measuring real improvement in the Eligible Enrollment Ratio (EER) — the share of students moving to tertiary education. Example: In Uttar Pradesh, under Project SAARTHI, iDC reached 27,000 students directly and over 445,000 students digitally, delivering 10,000+ assessments and 42,000+ counseling sessions. An third party study showed SAARTHI raised the EER by 11.52%, with especially strong gains for girls and marginalized students. Through this work, iDC is closing the gap between school and higher education, empowering students to choose pathways aligned with their skills and aspirations — boosting India’s tertiary enrollment and employability.
Cause Area
Impact
Got it — here’s a polished version using **“sister concern”** instead of **“CSR arm”**: --- iDreamCareer, together with its sister concern **Aasman Foundation**, is India’s largest career guidance and counselling ecosystem, committed to breaking systemic barriers to higher education and meaningful livelihoods for underserved youth. In the academic year 2024–25 alone, the combined work has directly impacted over **1.09 lakh students** through high-touch interventions and reached more than **500,000 students** digitally through platforms like the UP Pankh Portal. Flagship initiatives such as **SAARTHI** in Uttar Pradesh—implemented with the state government and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation—have achieved measurable impact, with an **11.52% uplift** in the Eligible Enrolment Ratio (EER) through structured counselling, personalized career pathways, scholarship support, and transition tracking. Aasman Foundation, as iDreamCareer’s dedicated Sec 8 sister concern, enables large-scale partnerships with valid 12A, 80G, CSR1, FCRAand NGO Darpan, extending this proven model to government schools and remote communities. Through deep collaborations with CBSE, state governments, UNICEF, and leading CSR partners, the group is establishing evidence-backed norms for career guidance in India—empowering millions of students to make informed, diverse, and financially sustainable career choices that reduce dropouts, increase tertiary enrolment, and unlock the true potential of India’s youth.
Demographics & Structure
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No. of Employees
100+
M&E
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Internal, External Assessors
No
Policies
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Ethics and Transparency Policies
No
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Formal CEO Oversight & Compensation Policy
No
Political & Religious Declarations
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On Affiliation if any
No
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On Deployment Bias if any
No
Registration Details
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Registration ID
U80903DL2013PTC262665
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VO ID / Darpan ID
DL/2021/0292231
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12A
AAPCA6801R22DL01
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80G
AAPCA6801R24DL02
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FCRA
231662102
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CSR Registration Number
CSR00001937
Location
Other Details
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Sister Organisation
Aasman Foundation
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Type & Sub Type
For-profit
Private Limited Company