Creativity Adda by Shikshantar

Name

Creativity Adda by Shikshantar

Legal name

Shikshantar Andolan

Website

https://shikshantar.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Alternative Education Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Fine Arts Schools (61161)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Enrichment & Creative Arts Programs (EDAAAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Visual Arts Instruction (Drawing, Painting, Sculpture) (EDAMAAAA), Crafts & Maker Arts (Ceramics, Textiles, Jewelry, Mixed Media) (EDAMAAAD)

Keywords

• Alternative education
• Unschooling programs
• Self-directed learning
• Community learning spaces
• Experiential youth education

Headquarters

HQ city

Delhi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Gift Culture Model: Operates on gift culture principles with no fees charged for participation. Resources and learning opportunities are freely shared with the community, relying on volunteer energy and donations rather than commercial transactions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Creativity Adda is an unschool (innovative self-designed learning space) located within a government school in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi, where children design and pursue their own learning based on personal interests rather than a formal curriculum, examinations, or assessments. It operates on a gift-culture model with no fees charged for participation, supported by volunteer energy and shared resources, and is part of the broader Shikshantar Andolan movement for rethinking education.

Product overview

Creativity Adda by Shikshantar is an educational initiative offering a portfolio of alternative learning programs and community spaces. The core offering is Creativity Adda, an unschool/self-designed learning space in Delhi, complemented by related initiatives within the Shikshantar ecosystem: Swaraj University (a two-year self-designed learning program for youth), Jail University (prototyping learning in prison settings), and Learning Parks of Possibilities (community-led neighborhood learning spaces). The organization publishes Swapathgami Magazine and Families Learning Together Magazine, and runs annual programs including the Learning Societies UnConference (LSUC) and Giftival celebration. Additional initiatives include the Ecoversities Network, Year On Campaign, Nai Taleem Film Festival, and Bindaas Community Media Academy. All offerings emphasize self-directed learning, de-schooling, gift culture, and alternatives to mainstream educational systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Creativity Adda: An unschool (innovative self-designed learning space) based in a government school in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi
• Swaraj University
• Jail University
• Nai Taleem
• Families Learning Together
• Learning Parks of Possibilities
• Udaipur as a Learning City

Products and services

• Creativity Adda
• Shikshantar Resource Center for Homeschooling, Unschooling, Self-Designed Learners A resource center in Udaipur providing support, materials, and community for homeschooling, unschooling, and self-designed learners and their families.
• Swaraj University A two-year self-designed learning programme for youth, offering alternative learning paths outside the traditional university system. Launched in 2010.
• Jail University Self-designed learning program prototype initiated in October 2018 at Udaipur Central Jail, bringing educational alternatives to incarcerated individuals.
• Learning Parks of Possibilities Community-led learning spaces created organically in neighborhoods, starting from 2000 in Udaipur, where children drive their own learning through interests and play.
• Families Learning Together Magazine Magazine featuring inspiring stories of South Asian homeschoolers, unschoolers, and creative families creating learning environments with new experiments.
• Swapathgami Magazine Magazine published by Walkouts-Walkon Network and Shikshantar featuring stories of why people walked out from mainstream institutions, inspiring walkout experiments and careers.
• Learning Societies UnConference (LSUC) Annual unconference bringing together people working on sustainable living, unlearning, home learning, and creative works; 13th edition held in Sardarshahr, Rajasthan in March 2023.
• Giftival A celebration of gift culture exploring alternatives to market-based economies, including gatherings and film festivals promoting sharing, generosity, and solidarity economies.
• Ecoversities Network Global network of learners and communities reclaiming diverse knowledges and relationships to design new approaches to higher education outside mainstream institutions.
• Year On Campaign Campaign encouraging youth to take a gap year to explore themselves, their community, and the world through self-designed learning experiences.
• Nai Taleem Film Festival Film festival named after Gandhi's vision of education, inspiring viewers to dream beyond the dominant model of factory schooling.
• Bindaas Community Media Academy Community media training initiative in Udaipur empowering local communities to create their own video, audio, and visual content.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Government School (Mukherjee Nagar)coreOthersThe Creativity Adda operates as an unschooling space within a government school in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi, providing alternative learning opportunities within the existing public education infrastructure.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Agile Learning Centers: Agile Learning Centers is a global network of self-directed schools and homeschools applying the Agile Learning principles. It provides a franchise-like structure for unschooling that Creativity Adda could relate to as a peer model.
• Rishi Valley School: Rishi Valley is an alternative K-12 school in Andhra Pradesh inspired by Krishnamurti's educational philosophy, emphasizing self-discovery and learning in nature. It is one of India's most established alternative schooling peers and overlaps with Shikshantar's critique of factory schooling.
• Sudbury Valley School: Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts is a foundational democratic/unschooling school where children direct their own learning without compulsory curriculum or assessments. It is the closest international reference model for Creativity Adda's self-designed learning philosophy.
• Summerhill School: Summerhill is the original democratic free school (founded 1921) where children choose what they learn. It shares Creativity Adda's core principle that learners should drive their own education rather than be subjected to mandated curricula.

Broad incumbents

• National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS): NIOS is India's national open schooling board providing flexible, self-paced education as an alternative to formal schooling. It represents the formal-system alternative education counterpart that Creativity Adda contrasts itself against.

Emerging players

• Big Picture Learning: Big Picture Learning is a US nonprofit network of schools using interest-driven, real-world learning via internships and personal learning plans. It is comparable to Shikshantar's self-designed learning approach but operates within formal public school districts.
• Schumacher College: Schumacher College in the UK is an ecological education center offering experiential, residential programs in ecological and transformative learning. It is comparable to Swaraj University as a peer institution in the ecoversities/alternative higher education space.

Others

• Ecoversities Network member organizations: Shikshantar is itself part of the Ecoversities Network, a global alliance of alternative learning communities. Other Ecoversities members (e.g., Earth University in Costa Rica, Findhorn College) are direct collaborators and peers in the alternative higher learning space.

Regional players

• Pathshala (alternative learning spaces in India): Pathshala operates alternative learning programs across India with a similar grassroots, community-led philosophy. It is a domestic Indian peer running self-directed learning environments in low-income settings comparable to Creativity Adda.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shikshantar

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creativity Adda by Shikshantar