In early September, Dayaram, Founder and Executive Director of Aspire, accompanied by Dr. Kartika Bhatia, our former Research Director and current Research and Evaluation Advisor, embarked on a transformative week-long tour of universities and research centers across the UK.The idea behind these visits was to build collaborative relationships with leading academic institutions to strengthen the evidence base for Aspire’s educational interventions. During the meetings, they presented Aspire’s work and successes to date, discussed shared research interests, and brainstormed potential research-practice partnerships.

Key Meetings and Discussions:

On September 3, Dayaram and Dr. Kartika Bhatia met with Dr. Sonya Krutikova at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London to discuss launching a randomized controlled trial aimed at assessing the impact of Aspire’s learning interventions. Later that day, they met with Dr. Ambreen Shahriar and Dr. Shovita Dhakal Adhikari at London Metropolitan University, exploring potential research collaborations to address pressing issues like out-of-school children and child labor.

On September 5, a meeting with Professor Tristan McCowan at University College London focused on developing partnerships that aim to create job-ready cohorts within higher education. That same day, they visited the University of Sussex, where discussions with Professor Simon Thompson, Professor Geert De Neve, and other faculty members centered on establishing research-practice partnerships to tackle challenges in teacher training, child development, and learning outcomes.

The week concluded with a workshop on September 9-10 at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, hosted by Dr. Margaret Leighton and Dr. Kartika Bhatia. The workshop included participants from the Tata Steel Foundation, including Dibyahas Ray, Deepika Singh, and Arvind Toppo, as well as prominent academics such as Professor Dr. NV Varghese (Fmr Vice chancellor NIEPA and Founding Director, Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education(CPRHE/NIEPA ), Professor Madhumita Bandyopadhyay, and Professor Neeru Snehi from the National Institute for Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA). The workshop focused on developing and refining innovative ideas aimed at driving transformative changes in education.