Proposed Guidelines

Rajasthan has been the cradle of entrepreneurship and is the birthplace of some of India's most successful businessmen and large industrial houses. Despite this, a large population of educated youth of the State leaves the State after completing their education searching for better employment opportunities in other destinations within India . Towards this end, Government of Rajasthan plans to create conducive environment towards building a holistic Startup ecosystem resulting in large scale innovation, enterprise creation and employment opportunities.

iStart Rajasthan is the program by the Department of Information Technology & Communication, Government of Rajasthan to foster innovation, create jobs and facilitate investment in the State. It is an integrated comprehensive platform, single window resource for startups, investors, incubators, accelerators, and mentors.
This initiative focuses on the idea stage, early stage, and startups with MVP (Minimal Viable Product).
Startups who want to work in Rajasthan can visit the iStart Portal (istart.rajasthan.gov.in) and all the requirements with respect to the startup ecosystem like registering, recognition & approval or applying for funds, incubation can be accomplished via this platform. All eligible startups are evaluated via QRrate program, which is recognized all over India by leading investors and VCs.

iStart is extended to include School Startup initiative to imbibe an entrepreneurial mindset in the school students of Rajasthan and provide them a solid foundation in their journey as a future entrepreneurs. The program is a joint program between the Department of Information Technology & Communications and Department of Education. The program aims to equip the students to possess the essential skills, knowledge, and confidence to develop, scale, and deliver innovative products and services to the nation.
In his budget speech for the financial year 2021-22 has announced the launch of the iStart School Startup program. Through this program the state envisages the establishment and the running of incubation centers in the nine academic zones in the state. Under the supervision of Techno-Hub as a hub and spoke model, these incubation centers would prepare the students, attending classes 8th to 12th across the schools in the state, including students attending ITI's and Polytechnic Colleges, on aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation.

i. Creating and embedding a spirit of entrepreneurship in students to encourage the growth of future entrepreneurs and innovators in the state.
ii. Guiding and grooming students in critical thinking, problem-solving, and inability to design innovative ideas.
iii. To create a common platform (virtual and physical) for students to compete and showcase innovative ideas.
iv. To present the students from rural regions of Rajasthan, the innovation challenges and opportunities that exists in their regions, state, and the country.
v. Mentoring and handholding students regarding their business or innovative ideas.

An iStart School Portal is an online education hub that provides an extensive and indispensable set of features to support students' entrepreneurship activities such as classroom learning, online workshops, and development skills.
Through iStart School, the teachers the mentors create and integrate course materials, articulate learning goals, align content and assessments, track course progress, and create customized tests for students. The Portal will allow the communication of learning objectives and organize learning timelines.

We are living in times of continuous innovation. This ability to nurture and ensure continuous innovation drives the development of any nation and the well-being of its citizens.
iStart has espoused an iStart School Innovation Challenge, given its innovation, entrepreneurship development, and learning-by-doing ethos. It has been envisaged to help unleash immense strength, creativity and potential of school students of Rajasthan. These challenges would give students from across the state an opportunity to showcase their ability to innovate and invent on a variety of thematic areas keeping SDG in consideration.
The format of the challenges will be such that students, guided by their teachers and mentors, will describe, conceptualize, and build on an innovative idea in selected areas of social importance. Students can further give shape to their ideas by prototyping and demonstrating them. The challenge's objective is to bring to life a number of ideas and innovations that will transcend this initiative and may well lead to social and commercial startups spurring community benefitting entrepreneurship.

All students, attending School are eligible to apply for the Challenge as an individual or as a team. The participating teams can have a teacher as a guide from their respective Schools. An individual student innovator can participate in multiple challenges however submit only one application for a challenge. In the case of teams, each team will have to select a team leader who will represent them at different forums. A team cannot submit multiple applications for the same challenge.

• All interested students and student teams will be submitting their applications for the challenges.
• Online platform will be set up for team registration and application submission from each school in the Innovation Challenge.
• The teams will have the option to submit their innovation idea, a 2-minute video on idea/concept(optional), and photographs on the Portal. 70% Score will be for Idea and 30% will be for Prototype.
• The submitted ideas will be graded on the scale of 10 by the schools.
• The Mentor Teachers will be required to grade the ideas in scale of 10 to the best of their abilities.
• The Evaluation Committee will scrutinize all the innovative ideas submitted at the district level.
• Top teams across all the seven challenges will be invited to present their ideas at the district level, of which top 3 ideas would be awarded. An idea can be considered a consolation prize if it is promising and couldn't be selected among the top 3 winners. The winners will receive the cash prize, while all shortlisted participants at the district level would be receiving a participation certificate. The consolation prize winner will receive non-financial benefits pledged under the programme and a certificate.
• The three best ideas at the district level will be forwarded to the divisional level committee for presentation at Division level. Top three ideas would be awarded, with all the participating applicants receiving the merit certificates. A consolation prize may also be conferred at the Division Level.
• The 3 best ideas at the divisional level would be sent to the state-level evaluation committee to compete at the state level. Three best ideas would be selected for reward, with all shortlisted applicants receiving merit certificates.
• The winning teams would be eligible for the highest award only.
• To promote Girls' participation in the Challenge, three all-girls teams will be awarded at Division Level and then at State Level.
• Awards will be presented to schools for maximum participation and maximum no. of winners. The award money will have to go towards setting up Incubation Cell in the school to promote entrepreneurial ideas.

• Team Registration
• Application Submission on iStart Portal
• Submission of innovation idea, video (optional), photographs on the portal
• Grading of idea by the Schools and Mentor Teachers
• Assessment of ideas by Evaluation Committee
• Selection of Winners at District/Division/State Level
• Selection of Schools for Awards

Evaluation Committee/ Jury will be headed under the Chairmanship of the Commissioner, Information Technology and Communications. In addition to this iStart Ambassadors, Mentor Teacher, iStart Mentors and relevant officials from iStart team would be involved during evaluation.

• Two mentor teachers will be nominated by the Department of School Education and two from the Department of Technical Education from each of the 33 districts.
• Each mentor teacher will have to undergo intensive training for entrepreneurship development.
• They will be assessed based on quizzes and assignments at the end of the learning modules.
• At the end of the training program, they will be given certificates for course completion by iStart Rajasthan.

• Mentor Teachers will be responsible for running the Incubation Cell.
• They will be acting as a spoke to iStart School Startup initiative and interface with iStart team and the schools.
• They will onboard schools and train teachers to set incubation cell at their schools.
• The mentor teachers from select schools will guide interested student innovators about various aspects of business creation.
• They will be assigned student teams for entrepreneurship development from district-level participation.
• They will be part of Evaluation Committee at District Level.
• They will be required to ensure filling of worksheets and uploading the activity sheets by the student teams enrolled in capacity building programmes offered by iStart.
• They will be required to redress doubts of the students at the district level to best of their abilities.
• They will have to get involved in entrepreneurship development activities in their respective districts.

We connect the students to mentors, funds and provide a platform to bring their ideas into existence.
The Incubation Cell focuses on fostering entrepreneurship culture amongst students. It assists these budding entrepreneurs with the necessary resources to overcome the obstacles faced while building on an innovative idea. It will not only be a community for innovative studentpreneurs but for anyone interested in building their own businesses. Its key objective is to emerge as a platform that recognizes the innovativeness and business acumen in the students and hones them to make them ready for the startup world.

• Onboard Students with entrepreneurial ideas from the schools
• Onboard Schools to propagate spirit of entrepreneurship amongst its students
• Train teachers to develop entrepreneurial spirit among students and encourage them to build on their budding ideas
• Act as an interface between iStart School Innovation Initiative and Schools
• Plan out activities with other stakeholders and organize their smooth conduction
• Coordinate with schools, teams and iStart Zonal Incubators
• Be part of Evaluation Committee to assess startups

Top three teams at the district level will be allowed to avail of capacity building programme. This will help them understand the nuances of business creation and fast-track the entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviors, and actions necessary for entrepreneurship development.

Entrepreneurship Development curriculum of international standards will be used for training the Mentor Teachers and the student participants. The structure of the course module will be research-oriented with innovative material and learnings. This curriculum will teach the select mentor teachers the basics of enterprise creation, incorporating broader perspective and interdisciplinary approach to be taught to the students. Aim will be to provide and train them with business specific knowledge connected to starting a new business.

The exposure visit will be organized to give first hand information about idea formulation, functioning of the startups, business practices, challenges associated with enterprise creation, to enhance entrepreneurial thought horizon. Students/ teachers will visit local factories, development centers, research labs, etc. within their districts and divisions. The winner teams may be taken for visit to different startups and entrepreneurship hubs. The idea is to impart holistic knowledge about aspects of business areas like marketing, finance, logistics, etc. Local trip to MSME’s in Jaipur will be facilitated to give them an idea of local ecosystem.

A multi-level approach has been put in place in case of any doubts of the students. They may approach the School Teachers, Mentor Teachers, iStart Ambassadors, and iStart Mentors for any queries. In case the doubts are still unresolved, iStart help desk will be created. Apex body for the resolution of any issues will be the evaluation committee whose decision shall be final and binding upon the parties.

The iStart School Innovation Challenge winners will be encouraged to prototype and build on their ideas at the zonal incubation centers. If there is a tie-up between Schools in the award category for maximum no. of participation, the no. of ideas selected for the next level from the schools will be considered to decide on the winner.
The proposed awards for the iStart innovation Challenge are as follows:

Non-Financial Benefits to Winning Teams

Appendix

• Student : All students, attending Class 8th to 12th from state-run and state-aided schools/ ITIs/ Polytechnics in the state of Rajasthan.
• School : All Government Schools, Government-aided and Private schools of Rajasthan, ITI’s/ Polytechnics and Technical Education
• Team : Students interested can register individually or as a team. All the team members should be from one school only.
• District : India's districts are local administrative units inherited from the British Raj. They generally form the tier of local government immediately below that of India's subnational states and territories. State of Rajasthan has 33 districts.
• Division : The divisions are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of country subdivisions. The state of Rajasthan is divided into 9 educational divisions which are mentioned below
  Ajmer, Bikaner, Bharatpur, Churu, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Pali & Udaipur
• Innovation : The process of translating an idea or invention into a product or service that create value for which customers will pay. Innovation involves deliberate application of information, imagination, and initiative in deriving greater or different values from resources.
• Startup :Startup is an entity involved in crafting repeatable and scalable products or services that positively impact society, where the solution is not obvious and success is not guaranteed.
• Prototype : A prototype is an early sample, model, or product release built to test a concept or process. It is essentially a basic product with most key features desired in the final product.
• Pilot : Pilot is an act of testing a product/service as an experiment or test before being introduced more widely.
• Team Leader : A team leader is a student from the participating team who represents the whole team.
• Members : Members are the students from participating team who help each other towards the development of innovative idea for the challenge.
• Mentor Teachers : Mentor teachers from select Schools (by School Education Department) and ITIs/ Polytechnics (Department of Technical Education) will guide interested student entrepreneurs about various aspects of Business creation including entrepreneurship, ideation, prototyping, company incorporation etc.
• iStart Brand Ambassadors : A government-identified champion startup from each district in Rajasthan who will act as a role model and influencer in the community for the entrepreneurial youths. Their induction into this programme aims to include them in building the local startup and innovation ecosystem and connect stakeholders with the hub in Jaipur.
• iStart Mentors : iStart Mentors are experts from academia and industry, investors, seasoned startup founders, and alumni of reputed universities with extensive entrepreneurship, experience. They share their knowledge, skills, and experience with their mentees and guide them to realize their entrepreneurial potential and take their ideas into action for sustainable impact.
• Program Management Unit (PMU) : PMU for iStart Rajasthan is responsible for managing startup domains across sectors for Start-up Evaluation, Start-up Assessments, incubation management, government startup policy formulation, etc.
• Hub and Spoke Model : For efficient running of the iStart School Startup Initiative, a Hub and Spoke model has been outlined with Techno Hub as Hub with Divisional Incubation Centers, District Incubation Cells, Schools as spoke.
• Incubation Cell : Incubation Cells coordinates and leverages the synergies of various strands of excellence, driving innovation and entrepreneurship and help create successful startups which benefit society. To be setup at Schools/ ITIs/ Polytechnics at District Level.
• QRate : An assessment programme which provides a detailed report of the startup’s potential. This mechanism helps to identify problem areas and offers corrective actions to improve the startup idea. The scorecard and assessment report provides startup founders with actionable insights to strengthen their business plan and improve chances of receiving funding.
• iStart School Innovation Challenge : An initiative to help unleash innovation's immense strength and potential, especially among the younger generation - the students in schools. The student will have to develop an innovative solution for the problems based on the themes shared by iStart.
• Theme : Identified topics for innovation in the iStart School Innovation Challenge.
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) : Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all.
• Submission : Submission means the act of submitting innovative ideas for the challenge.
• Evaluation Committee : Evaluation Committee is a committee constituted by iStart to evaluate the proposals received from students.
• Award : Cash Incentives and Certificates will be conferred or bestowed to deserving and meritorious student innovators participating in iStart School Innovation Challenge.
• Learning Management System (LMS) : LMS is an integrated learning platform that provides comprehensive learning content for teachers, mentors and students for entrepreneurship development.
• Virtual Session : Virtual is an online session in which an instructor can explain, show or test specific abilities that can contribute to the learning process.
• Corporate Roundtable : Corporate Roundtable is a conference for discussion or deliberation by eminent participants from Corporate World.

Appendix

To promote start-ups, we should evaluate and engage start-ups that have existing platforms for this tool. iStart School Portal will have the following major tool.

a) Registration :

• Registration of school/ ITIs/ Polytechnics
• Registration of student
• Registration of mentor teacher and teachers

b) Submission :

• Submission of Idea
• Submission of Prototype

c) Challenges :

• Selection of challenge

d) Content :

• Content by online courses
• Workshops
• Startup success stories

e) Assessment :

• Assessment of student startups (ideas)
• Assessment of mentor teacher

f) Certification :

• Certificate to selected student startups

The detailed information of each tool is given as under :

• All Government Schools, Government-aided and Private schools, ITIs/ Polytechnics Colleges of Rajasthan have to register themselves on the platform
• Representative (Principal/Headmaster/Teacher) of Government Schools can register using their unique “School ID” issued by Shala Darpan. Government-aided and Private schools can do so using the UDISE code.
• ITIs/ Polytechnics Colleges shall have to provide basic information and representative details for registration on the platform.
• School/ ITIs/ Polytechnics Colleges registered on the platform will further help the students and teachers to register and apply for challenges.

• Teacher has to register themselves on the platform using their Single Sign On(‘SSO’) account.
• Basic information about Government teacher and associated schools shall be retrieved based on their “Employee ID” while other teachers shall have to provide the required information for successful registration on the platform.

• Students have to register themselves on the platform using their Single Sign On(‘SSO’) account.
• Student shall have to fill basic information about themselves and associated school/ ITIs/ Polytechnics Colleges in order to be successfully registered on the platform

• The students who are taking part in the iStart School Program have to submit their solution/ idea.
• On the platform different challenges/ problem statements are given to students according to them students have to develop ideas for the solution
• Submission panel will have different tabs where they have to fill the details like the challenge they are opting for.
• Students have to fill basic belief about the idea and implementation strategy
• Students have to fill out team details: name of team members and class.

Submission Screenshot/Challenges

Students who have registered themselves on the platform will have access to content uploaded.

• Content will be taken from different supported partners on student entrepreneurship.
• Students can access the content and can learn from what they like.
• Content on the platform will be in both Hindi and English.
• iStart School Portal contains informative videos regarding challenges.
• Courses related to entrepreneurship : iStart School portal will add well-designed courses related to entrepreneurship so that the participants will have a decent idea of starting a new business and how to run it properly.
• Startup working module : iStart School portal will have the content regarding startup life cycle, different phases of startup lifecycle from idea stage to funding so that students can understand the concept of startup.
• Different success stories : Platform will showcase different startup stories to motivate the school students.

Content Screenshot :

• Assessment of Startups (ideas). : Assessment of ideas is necessary just to validate the idea of student startup.
• Ideas submitted by the students would be assessed.
• Students shall be able to check their assessment report on the platform.
• The students can access the assessment report of their idea using Student ID in the assessment panel.
• Assessment of mentor teacher :
• Mentor teachers can also see their assessment report in the assessment panel.
• Mentor teachers can access their assessment report using Employee ID/SSO ID in the assessment panel.
• Assessment Screenshot

• Tests shall be conducted based on innovation and entrepreneurship courses taken by the students.
• Test regarding the challenges, which are going to be addressed on the iStart School Program.

FAQ’s For School Startups

Q1: Who is eligible for the program?

iStart School Program is open to all the students currently studying in classes 8th to 12th and ITIs/ Polytechnics Colleges across Rajasthan. All the founders working on a startup or thinking about starting one in the future are eligible to participate in the program.

Q2: I don't have a startup yet, should I still enroll?

We have 2 different tracks within iStart School Program. One is for ‘aspiring founders’, where you can learn about what it means to be a founder and generate ideas for a future startup through learning materials and other available resources. The second track is for active founders, who need to apply for solution to atleast one of the iStart School Innovation Challenges listed under the iStart School Program.

Q3: Who has an access to the Learning Management System?

Students who have registered themselves on the platform have access to content uploaded on the Portal. The content on the platform will be available in both Hindi and English languages and contains information on various business aspects required for the modern day student entrepreneurs.

Q4: Is there a cost to the program?

iStart School Program is completely free. All you need is a device with access to the internet. We believe that all founders should have access to the best startup advice - no matter where you're building your company in the state. iStart School Program is the compilation of the best advice that iStart teachers and mentors have offered themselves or gathered from experts in the field. We offer this for free to the school startups so that founders can use this knowledge, while focusing on building their startup.

Q5: Is there a limit to the number of founders who can participate in the program?

We do not have a limit on the number of participants.

Q6: How many hours should I expect to put into this?

We understand that you have your full time schools running. But, we expect most founders or aspiring founders to be focused on building their startups. The program flexibility allows for you to spend as much time as you want in iStart School Program.

Q7: If I’m already doing a startup, why should I bother with this? What do I get out of it?

If you’re doing a startup, this program will help provide insight on running your company through exposure to best practices, helpful resources, and actionable advice. In addition to the lecture material, you will have access to moderators, mentor teachers, iStart mentors and become a part of an international community of founders.

Q8: If I’m working with other people, who should participate?

We recommend inviting your co-founders to participate with you. Designate one Team Leader as your representative for group sessions. In an ideal case, the team size of your startup should vary from minimum 1 to maximum 5 participants.

FAQ’s For Mentor Teachers

Q9: Is it mandatory for the mentor teachers to undergo the training for entrepreneurship development?

Yes, each mentor teacher needs to undergo training for entrepreneurship development.

Q10: What kind of training will be provided to the selected mentor teachers deputed at district level?

Each mentor teacher will undergo a rigorous training on the well-designed curriculum for entrepreneurship development. Entrepreneurship training will provide the mentor teachers with the aptitude to identify business opportunities, knowledge and skills to mentor the students on the various aspects of entrepreneurship.

Q11: What is the role of the mentor teacher?

Each mentor teacher will be acting as a spoke to iStart School Startup program and act as an interface between iStart team and School/ITIs/ Polytechnics Colleges. At the same time, they will have to mentor other teachers in their district and get involved in the entrepreneurship development activities in their respective districts.

Q12: What are the day-to-day tasks assigned for mentor teachers?

Each mentor teacher is required to mentor the teams on innovative business ideas, redress doubts of the students at the district level. As part of the Evaluation Committee, they are required to ensure filling of worksheets and uploading the activity sheets enrolled in capacity building programs offered by iStart.

Q13: Will mentor teachers be given certification for the course training attended?

Each mentor teacher will have to upload the assignments and worksheets designed for mentor teachers and appear in the quizzes at the end of each module and secure at least 60% marks. At the end of the training program, they will be given certificates by iStart Rajasthan.

Q14: How will the mentor teachers be assessed?

By entering the id in the assessment panel, the mentor teachers will be able to access their assessment report.

Q15: What is the team size to be handled by the mentor teachers?

They will be assigned not less than 25 student teams for entrepreneurship development from district level participation.