Core — The Learning Space is a 5-day inquiry-based learning program that puts students in charge of real questions, real research, and real discoveries. We work inside school calendars, alongside teachers, to build what marks alone cannot measure.
"Every child is born curious. Our job is to make sure school doesn't undo that."
Students investigate real-world questions across six interest groups — from ecology to social science — using research methods drawn from actual disciplines.
We run inside your school. No separate campus, no disruption to your academic calendar. Five focused days, fully facilitated by Core.
Student growth is tracked across six dispositions with rubrics aligned to NEP 2020 and NCF 2023. Every student leaves with a documented growth profile.
A structured, documented, curriculum-aligned program your school can own. Full facilitator support. Zero burden on your teaching staff.
Five days your child will talk about for months. Hands-on, real, deeply personal learning — no rote, no rank, no pressure.
You pick what you want to investigate. You ask the questions. You find the answers. At the end — you present to the world.
A replicable, high-impact model with a cross-subsidy structure that brings quality inquiry learning to government school children at scale.
Spark curiosity. Surface questions worth investigating. No answers yet — only better questions.
Learn how to find credible answers. Source evaluation, structured notes, research methods. Start exploring.
Go further. Test findings. Challenge assumptions. Seek counterarguments. Build an evidence base.
Build the argument. Construct a coherent narrative. Peer review and collaborative feedback.
Present to peers, parents, and community. Defend reasoning. Reflect using the 6-Disposition rubric.
Whether you're a principal exploring options, a parent asking questions, or a funder looking for impact — we'd love to talk.
The people, purpose, and principles behind Core — The Learning Space.
Why do so many brilliant children learn to stop asking why?
We watched curious, energetic children walk into classrooms and, over years, become quieter — more careful, more compliant, less willing to take a risk on a question that might not have a textbook answer.
That wasn't a failure of the children. It was a failure of the environment.
"We are not a school. We are the space between what school currently is and what it can become."
Core — The Learning Space was founded in Ahmedabad to build a different kind of environment. One where a child's question is the starting point, not an interruption.
We are a registered Public Charitable Trust under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. Our program is built on inquiry-based and experiential learning research, aligned with NEP 2020 and NCF 2023.
Founder & Lead Facilitator
Karm founded Core out of a conviction that the most important things education should develop — curiosity, resilience, the ability to think critically and work collaboratively — are precisely the things most systems deprioritise.
His work sits at the intersection of inquiry-based pedagogy, holistic assessment, and inclusive education. He has designed Core's full program architecture: the 5-day structure, six interest groups, disposition framework, and facilitator protocols. He leads every program cohort as the primary facilitator.
Core is built on the belief that children — particularly those in under-resourced government schools — deserve the same quality of intellectual engagement that elite education promises but rarely delivers.
We envision an Indian education ecosystem where inquiry, agency, and critical thinking are not privileges reserved for certain schools — they are the baseline expectation for every child.
Learning is most powerful when children have genuine ownership of their questions.
Our program design, assessment framework, and facilitator protocols are built on peer-reviewed research.
Premium private school programs fund access programs for government school children.
We protect and provoke the natural curiosity every child starts with.
We measure what actually matters — growth, thinking, and effort — not just output.
Our program works across socioeconomic backgrounds, ability levels, and learning styles.
Research resources drawn exclusively from universities and independent nonprofits. No government-influenced content sources.
Our facilitators model curiosity. We don't pretend to have all the answers in the room.
Five deep, intentional days create more lasting change than fifty surface-level ones.
The gap in Indian education that Core is designed to address.
A system built around examination results will optimise for examination results — and examination results do not require curiosity, resilience, or the ability to sit with a question you cannot yet answer.
The consequence is visible everywhere. Students who have memorised everything and investigated nothing. Young people who have learned, very precisely, what school rewards — and it isn't asking hard questions.
Schools deliver structured subject-matter progression. What this misses: the skills that determine what a student does with that knowledge once the exam is over — how they research, reason, collaborate, and adapt.
Both frameworks explicitly call for competency-based learning, holistic development, critical thinking, and student agency. Most schools lack the structural space, trained facilitators, and documented frameworks to act on that intent.
Core's cross-subsidy model is specifically designed so that the children who need quality inquiry learning most are not the ones priced out of it.
This is not a problem that requires more content. It requires a different kind of experience.
Inquiry-based learning is backed by decades of research. What is new is a structured, facilitated, documented program designed specifically for the Indian school context, aligned to Indian policy frameworks, and deployable inside existing school calendars without displacing academic time. That is what Core is built to be.
| Traditional Schooling | Generic Enrichment | Core — The Learning Space | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Content & exam performance | Activity & entertainment | Disposition & skill development |
| Curriculum Alignment | Full | None | NEP 2020 & NCF 2023 aligned |
| Assessment | Marks-based | None | 6-Disposition rubric framework |
| Facilitation | Teacher-led instruction | External vendor | Trained inquiry facilitator |
| Duration | Ongoing | One-off | 5 structured, sequential days |
| Reach | All students | Fee-paying only | Cross-subsidy: private + government |
The pedagogy, the practice, and the program design behind Core.
In a traditional classroom, the teacher holds the question and the answer. In an inquiry-based classroom, the student holds the question. The facilitator's job is to help them pursue it rigorously.
"Inquiry-based learning is a disciplined process — students learn how to identify a researchable question, locate credible sources, synthesise evidence, form an argument, and communicate a finding."
These are the same skills that define academic, professional, and civic competence. The difference is that the student is doing the thinking, not watching someone else do it.
In a world where information is universally accessible, the premium is no longer on knowing — it is on thinking. IBL develops precisely the capacities that content-heavy schooling underinvests in.
These are the six dispositions Core tracks, develops, and assesses across the 5-day program.
Students begin with a provocation and are guided through a structured investigation. Every step of the Core program — Provocation → Investigation → Deep Investigation → Synthesis → Sharing — is built around IBL principles.
Rooted in Dewey, Bruner, and contemporary IBL research.
Understanding is built through doing. Core students don't read about research methods — they use them. Kolb's experiential learning cycle is embedded in the day-by-day structure.
Dispositions — the habits of mind that determine how you approach any challenge — are cultivatable. Core's 6-Disposition Framework uses behavioural descriptors across three levels: Exploring, Developing, Extending.
A child who has ownership of their question is motivated to find the answer. Core's interest group structure means every student investigates something they actually care about. Agency is the mechanism that makes everything else work.
Students select one interest group at the start of the program. Their investigation lives within it for all five days.
Water, biodiversity, climate, land use — local, regional, and global questions.
Human behaviour, social structures, community dynamics, and decision-making.
Engineering thinking applied to everyday problems. How things are designed and improved.
Journalism, literature, oral tradition, and digital media. The power of narrative.
Local history, cultural identity, and the politics of memory. How the past shapes the present.
Biology, chemistry, human health — investigated through real questions, not textbook chapters.
Core's assessment framework is built around the 6-Disposition Rubric — observable behavioural descriptors across three progressive levels.
Beginning to demonstrate the disposition with support from the facilitator.
Demonstrates the disposition consistently and with increasing independence.
Demonstrates the disposition fluently and can model it for others.
Full alignment documentation to NEP 2020 and NCF 2023 available on request.
What Core looks like inside your school — structure, logistics, and what to expect.
A dedicated room or learning space for the cohort
15–30 students (Grades 5–10 recommended)
Basic digital access for research days (devices or computer lab)
Optional: a school staff member as observer or co-learner
Lead facilitator for all five days
Full facilitation kit: provocation materials, research toolkits, interest group guides
Student Welcome Packs and daily worksheets
Parent Communication Pack (pre and post program)
Disposition profiles for every student + full school leadership report
Students are confronted with a real-world provocation related to their interest group. Facilitators use Socratic methods to deepen curiosity and help students identify a line of inquiry worth pursuing. The goal is not to answer — it is to surface questions.
Students learn the tools of research: identifying credible sources, structured note-taking, separating fact from opinion, avoiding confirmation bias. They begin investigating using verified, non-government digital research platforms.
Students test initial findings, seek counterarguments, interview subject-matter sources where possible, and build an evidence base. Facilitators push for rigour and intellectual honesty.
Students move from research to argument. They identify key findings, construct a coherent narrative, and prepare their final presentation. Peer review and collaborative feedback are built into the day's structure.
Students present their findings to peers, parents, and invited community members. They defend their reasoning, field questions, and complete a structured self-reflection using the 6-Disposition rubric. This is the culmination — and the beginning of the habit.
Send us a message and we'll put together a proposal specific to your school.
We keep it simple. Tell us who you are and what you're looking for. We'll respond within 48 hours.