10 School Teams Become National Winners of Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025

NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary felicitated 10 national level winning teams and innovators of the Viksit Bharat Buildathon (VBB) 2025 at a function in New Delhi on October 28, where the Guinness World Records certification for VBB 2025 as the "Largest Innovation Solution Competition" was also presented. At the same event, the Minister launched the Guidelines for Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) under ULLAS (Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram) and distributed prizes to the student winners of a quiz competition based on e-waste, according to a press release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

Addressing the event, Chaudhary reiterated the importance of fostering confidence, creativity, innovation and independent thinking among children to mould them into future leaders. He noted that students under the Buildathon were encouraged to identify problems and develop solutions independently, without predefined problems or solutions. He appreciated the participation of lakhs of students nationwide and acknowledged the role of teachers in mentoring and guiding them.

Expressing concern at the growing challenge of e-waste, Chaudhary stressed the need to involve schoolchildren in addressing it, thereby paving the way for its systematic management. He added that it was the shared responsibility of institutions, communities and citizens to address the issue.

Acknowledging the role of ULLAS in promoting adult literacy and restoring learners' dignity and confidence, he said that the new Guidelines would enable student teachers to play a vital role in empowering the nation.

Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Nivedita Shukla Verma, and Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), T. K. Anil Kumar, attended the event, along with senior officials of the Ministry of Education, representatives and heads of autonomous bodies, education departments of States and Union Territories and partner institutions.

Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025

The Buildathon was organised by DoSEL, Union Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It was initiated to foster creative problem-solving, entrepreneurship and scientific curiosity among school students. Centred around four foundational pillars, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swadeshi, Vocal for Local and Samriddh Bharat, the initiative recorded 2,87,967 project submissions across both the Idea and Prototype tracks.

Solutions were evaluated through a three-tier assessment framework at the district, state and national levels, led by multidisciplinary expert panels. Following the evaluations, 10 national awardees, 100 state awardees and 1,000 district awardees were selected. An award pool of over ₹1 crore was instituted across district, state and national levels.

The 10 national winning teams were awarded a total cash prize of ₹17.50 lakh. Under the Prototype Track, each of the five top winning teams was awarded ₹2,50,000, recognising their functional working models. Each of the five winning teams under the Idea Track received ₹1,00,000 to encourage the incubation and scaling of their creative concepts. The winners felicitated at the event belonged to Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Keralam, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

National Prize Winners, Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025

Special Campaign 6.0

Initiatives taken by DoSEL and the Department of Higher Education under Special Campaign 6.0, highlighting efforts to generate awareness about e-waste and e-waste collection, were presented at the event. DoSEL Secretary Anil Kumar also handed over the e-waste collected during the campaign to the authorised recycler or refurbisher. Under the campaign, DoSEL had undertaken extensive drives to promote responsible e-waste management in schools across the country. Several activities were organised in schools on the day, including handing over of collected e-waste to authorised recyclers or refurbishers, e-waste-themed morning assemblies and e-waste based quizzes.

Guidelines for TEIs under ULLAS

The Guidelines for Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) under ULLAS (Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram), released at the event, envisage the participation of student teachers enrolled in NCTE-recognised teacher education programmes such as B.Ed., B.P.Ed., M.Ed., M.P.Ed. and other recognised programmes as Volunteer Teachers.

Under the Guidelines, each student teacher will be required to facilitate the literacy and certification of five to eight non-literate learners, with provision for academic credits linked to successful learner certification. Developed by DoSEL after extensive consultations with concerned stakeholders, the Guidelines also define the roles and responsibilities of NCTE, NCERT, CNCL, SCERTs, DIETs, State Literacy Mission Authorities (SLMAs), District Authorities, TEIs and student teachers for effective implementation.