STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Education

Inspiring future leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

STEM Education

Shaping Future Innovators

India’s long‑term growth will depend on how effectively its education system equips young people with the skills to navigate complexity, uncertainty, and rapid technological change. STEM education plays a critical role in building problem‑solving skills, analytical thinking, and scientific curiosity that underpin innovation.

Yet access to high‑quality STEM learning remains uneven. Students in government and low‑income schools often face structural constraints-from limited infrastructure to rigid curriculum-that restrict opportunities for experiential, real‑world learning.

Shell’s STEM education portfolio seeks to bridge these gaps by focusing on capability building rather than content alone. By strengthening how students think,not just what they learn,Shell supports programmes that enable curiosity, confidence, and structured problem‑solving, laying the foundation for a more inclusive and future‑ready innovation ecosystem.

NXplorers

Digital STEM Programs

The Challenge

India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 calls for a shift away from memorizing answers (rote learning) to education that builds critical thinking, problem‑solving, creativity, and experiential learning, allskills essential for navigating today’s complex world.

Yet in many classrooms, students have limited opportunities to practise these 21st‑century capabilities. While hands‑on activities are increasingly common, learning often follows predefined paths, leaving little space for students to frame problems, explore interconnected systems, or design solutions rooted in real‑world contexts.

Bridging this gap requires approaches that go beyond tools and experiments,enabling students to think holistically, question assumptions, and translate curiosity into innovation.

What is NXplorers?

NXplorers is Shell’s global flagship STEM education programme, designed to build critical thinking, problem‑solving, and collaboration skills by connecting classroom learning to real‑world challenges in food, water, and energy.

Launched in India in 2018, NXplorers has evolved from a school‑level intervention to a national initiative focused on developing innovation mindsets in government and low‑income schools. A key milestone was its partnership with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), which integrated NXplorers’ systems thinking approach into the Atal Tinkering Lab network and strengthened student-led innovation.

Through NXplorers, students learn to:

Think creatively and critically
Collaborate and communicate effectively
Apply STEM concepts to solve real‑world problems

Since 2018, NXplorers,implemented in partnership with Learning Links Foundation and SMILE Foundation,has reached 400,000+ students across 2,500+ schools in multiple states across India.

The impact of this journey is captured in the NXplorers Coffee Table Booklet

, which showcases student‑led innovations emerging from classrooms nationwide.

Want to learn more? https://nxplorers.com/

NXplorers Highlights

2018

NXplorers launched in India, introducing systems thinking and structured problem‑solving to students in government and low‑income schools through real‑world food, water, and energy challenges.

2022

Student innovations gained national recognition, including the ‘Agri Sprayer’ project from Karnataka, developed by a 15‑year‑old NXplorers student and recognised by CSIR[DV1] for improving farmer safety and energy efficiency.

2023

NXplorers expanded with the launch of the Senior Module in India and reached over 100,000 students in a single calendar year, marking a significant scale milestone.

April 2024

Shell India completed the first phase of the Teacher Support Model (TSM) across 100+ Atal Tinkering Lab schools, in partnership with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission.

September 2024

At the Shell Changemakers of Tomorrow event in Bengaluru, 10 student teams presented innovative solutions addressing food, energy, and water challenges to senior government leaders.

December 2024

NXplorers project “Eco Lather” won 2nd place at IIT Bombay Techfest, selected from over 1,200 national entries for its eco‑friendly material innovation.

By March 2025

NXplorers trained over 566 teachers across 254 ATL schools, equipping more than 37,000 students with essential systems thinking and problem solving skills.

February 2026

NXplorers India won Gold Awards in two categories at the Shell NXplorers Global Inspiration Awards, highlighting the global strength of student‑led innovation from India.

March 2026

Shell India and NITI Aayog launched the NXplorers Blended Learning Model and unveiled the NXplorers Coffee Table Book, marking a major step toward scaling innovation‑led learning nationwide.