How an early outreach project that began in Pune is helping less-advantaged students get into top tech schools

For the last nine years, Cognizant Outreach’s Project Dhyeya has supported under-resourced students from Class 8 through engineering education and into the workforce. Today, it backs over 650 students across four cities.

Project Dhyeya identifies students as early as Class 8 through a raw aptitude-based entrance test that evaluates reasoning and problem-solving skills rather than academic exposure. (File)

For many students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the path to engineering is often cut short not by a lack of ability but by a lack of access to quality teaching, mentoring, and resources. Over the last nine years, Cognizant Outreach’s Project Dhyeya has been working to change that reality, creating a structured pathway that supports students from Class 8 through engineering education and into the workforce. The volunteer-led effort that began in Pune has since expanded to Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar, supporting more than 650 students across four cities.

‘Critical gaps in education system before college’

Speaking to The Indian Express, Abhijit Datar, Global Delivery Head, IoT and Engineering, Cognizant, who has been closely associated with the initiative, said, “Our programme focuses on early intervention, recognising that the most critical gaps in India’s education system emerge well before college. There is a massive drop between Class 10 and Classes 11–12.

“A student scoring 90 per cent in Class 10 often falls to 70 per cent in Class 11, for example. That drop has nothing to do with intelligence. It’s about preparedness,” he added.

Project Dhyeya identifies students as early as Class 8 through a raw aptitude-based entrance test that evaluates reasoning and problem-solving skills rather than academic exposure. In Pune alone, 700-1,000 students appear for the test each year, of which 30 to 60 are selected.

Weekly instructions, online sessions

“We are not testing what students already know,” Datar said. “We are testing how they think. Talent is evenly distributed. Opportunity is not.” Once selected, students receive 10 to 15 hours of instruction every week, delivered through a combination of online learning and weekend sessions held at Cognizant offices.

The curriculum is aligned with national-level competitive examinations such as the National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS) scheme and the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), and students are provided with laptops, books, digital access, and study material. The project also partners with reputed coaching institutions and covers the entire cost of preparation in classes 11 and 12.

“From the time a student joins us in Class 8 until they complete engineering, money is never the reason they drop out,” Datar said. “We take what I call academic guardianship. Students from Project Dhyeya have secured admissions into IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIIT Allahabad, College of Engineering, Pune (COEP), Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), and the Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT), among others. More than 50 per cent of our current beneficiaries are girls,” he added.

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‘Early, consistent investment leads to predictable outcomes’

Several students have gone on to secure internships and pre-placement offers at leading global organisations, including at Cognizant. “One student recently received an internship offer from Goldman Sachs, while another converted an internship at Barclays into an offer. These are not outliers anymore. When you invest early and consistently, outcomes start becoming predictable,” Datar said.

The initiative has a strong volunteer network involving over 250 Cognizant associates. “Cognizant Outreach reflects the power of our employees to drive meaningful change in the communities where we operate. Their commitment to volunteerism, through the skills and time they contribute, continues to create a lasting impact. Project Dhyeya is an outstanding example, where our people are helping shape future engineers by harnessing technology as a force for good,” said Rajesh Varrier, President (Operations), Cognizant, and CMD of Cognizant India.

In the long term, the project hopes to ensure that at least 10 per cent of hiring in technology and manufacturing companies comes from economically weaker sections and from among girls, according to Datar, who underlined that the programme is not about philanthropy. “It is capability-building. If you give students the right foundation, mentoring, and resources, they don’t need sympathy. They just need opportunity,” he said.

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