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About
HCD School · For principals and teachers
A design innovation lab in your school, run by HCD Institute.
The design learning leading schools around the world offer, in the rooms you already have. HCD Institute faculty and facilitators begin it in your school, in your timetable (from 100 students), in a five-day block, or at weekends and holidays, and your teachers grow into running it, trained at DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad. No new building. No expensive equipment.
Why now
What leading schools offer, any school can offer.
The world's leading schools teach students to find problems, design solutions and test them with real people. That has always needed special staff and special rooms. It doesn't any more. The method is what matters, and your teachers can learn it.
What you need
Use the rooms you already have.
A design lab is a way of working, not an expensive room. Any classroom or activity room can become one in a day.
You need
A room and simple materials
An existing classroom or activity room · jute soft boards to pin up ideas · a blackboard or whiteboard · tables that can be moved together · paper, card, clay, toys and building blocks.
You don't need
New buildings or big budgets
No new construction · no costly machines · no separate equipment budget · no new full-time hire. If you already have an Atal Tinkering Lab or a computer lab, we use it too.
A simple set-up
What the room looks like.
Ideas go up on the soft boards. Teams sit around pushed-together tables. Prototypes are made from paper, clay and toys. The blackboard holds the plan for the day. That's it.
- Jute soft boards: the project wall for every team
- Blackboard: the day's plan and questions
- Movable tables: teams of four or five
- A materials shelf: paper, card, clay, toys, blocks, tape
- A display corner: finished work for parents and visitors
Who teaches it
HCD Institute faculty begin it. Your teachers grow into it.
Your school owns the lab; HCD Institute faculty start it with you and your teachers carry it forward. See [who teaches it](/programmes/hcd-lab-at-school#delivery).
01 · Begin
HCD Institute faculty and facilitators teach
HCD Institute faculty and facilitators deliver the design thinking curriculum in your school, in one of three ways: in your timetable (from 100 students), in a five-day block for each cohort, or at weekends and holidays.
02 · Co-teach
Your teachers alongside
Your teachers sit in, co-teach and attend the Faculty Training Programme at DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad.
About the FTP03 · Grow
More of it each year
As your teachers gain confidence they lead more sessions. HCD Institute faculty review projects and sit on both juries, at points agreed in the MoU.
What they teach from
A book that does the planning for you.
Introduction to Design Thinking and Innovation, by Dr Deepak John Mathew, Jacinta Bell and Mathew Sebastian. Eight modules, each built around one question, each with the same five parts: an explanation, a case study, an exercise, a reflection and a glossary.
| Module | The question it asks |
|---|---|
| 1 · Foundations | Why does the question come before the build? |
| 2 · Learning to Question | How do I know what I know? |
| 3 · Understanding People | Who am I designing for? |
| 4 · Execution, Part One | What is the real problem? |
| 5 · Widening the Lens | What changes when the group changes? |
| 6 · Execution, Part Two | What do we build? |
| 7 · Building for a Market | Who will choose it, and why? |
| 8 · Reason and Empathy | What did this change in me? |
For teachers
No design expertise needed
Teachers only need to do what the book asks of students: ask questions before giving answers.
For the timetable
One class period
Exercises need paper and pen, and most fit inside a single lesson.
For students
A habit that lasts
The daily Question Page: three questions a day about anything they noticed.
How it runs
Three ways to run it. You choose.
In your timetable (about four periods a month, from 100 students), as a five-day block for each cohort of 30, or the same five days at weekends and holidays. A first pilot class of 30 runs as a block.
See the three formats side by side, with what each needs from your school.
Grades
From Grade 6 to Grade 12.
The programme runs across Grades 6 to 12. Sessions for the board classes, 10 and 12, are planned around their exams, for example in holidays or at weekends.
Every board
CBSE, IB, Cambridge, ICSE and UAE schools.
HCD Lab supports the design and innovation subjects of every major board. It is not a qualification of any board.
See how HCD Lab maps to each board, with links to the official syllabuses, and HCD Lab for international schools.
What students do
Two versions. Real problems. Thinking they can explain.
| Version | Grades | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Middle | Grades 6–8 | Observe people, ask good questions, separate assumption from evidence, sketch ideas and test them with paper, clay and blocks |
| Secondary | Grades 9–12 | Take a real problem in the school or community, research it, test ideas with the people it's for and defend their reasoning at a jury. Board classes are planned around exams |
Every student finishes the year with project reports and two certificates, one from HCD Institute and one from DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad.
Why it's worth it
A point of difference parents can see.
For admissions
Something real to show on every school tour
Student projects on the soft boards, teachers trained at DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad, and certificates from HCD Institute and from DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad. Parents remember it.
For your brand
"HCD Lab by HCD Institute, DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad"
Use the co-branding line on your lab wall, prospectus, website and brochures, as agreed in your MoU.
For NEP 2020
Experiential learning, done and documented
A ready way to deliver the hands-on, competency-based learning NEP 2020 asks for, with project reports as evidence.
For students
A way of thinking that lasts
Questioning what they hear and read, separating assumption from evidence, working with people who think differently, and explaining their reasoning. Work they present at an end-of-year display.
Teacher training
Five days at DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad. Then supported through the year.
01
The FTP at DIC Hub
Teachers do a real design project, then plan lessons for their own classes, with HCD Institute faculty.
02
Certified
Two certificates, one from HCD Institute and one from DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad.
03
Supported through the year
Project reviews at scheduled points and train-the-trainer guides for other staff, as agreed in the MoU.
What's included
One partnership. Everything you need to start.
Agreed per school under an MoU, including faculty travel and teacher training. We go through it with your leadership team.
- The course bookIntroduction to Design Thinking and Innovation: eight modules, with session plans and rubricsIncluded
- Project reportsTemplates for project briefs, research, prototypes and final reportsIncluded
- Classroom consumablesPaper, card, clay and tape are the school'sSchool
- Room set-up guideHow to turn a classroom into a design lab with soft boards, blackboards and simple materialsIncluded
- Teacher trainingThe Faculty Training Programme at DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad, on terms set in the MoUUnder the MoU
- Faculty supportDIC Hub and HCD project reviews at points agreed in the MoU, and both juriesIncluded
- CertificationTwo certificates for each student, one from HCD Institute and one from DIC Hub, IIT HyderabadIncluded
- Co-branding"HCD Lab by HCD Institute, DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad" for your lab wall, prospectus and websiteIncluded
- End-of-year displayStudents present their work to parents and the schoolIncluded
How to start
Four steps to the first term.
01
Tell us about your school
Name, city, number of students and the format you prefer.
02
Plan the year
A short call to pick grades, format and dates.
03
Plan & set up
HCD Institute faculty plan the days with your academic calendar. A classroom is set up as the lab.
04
Begin
HCD Institute faculty deliver the first curriculum sessions in your school.
Your application
Five lines is enough.
Your name, school, city, number of students, and when you'd like to start. We reply within two working days.
FAQ
About the partnership.
Can we use the HCD Institute and DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad names in our branding?
What do teachers teach from?
What do students get?
How is this different from an Atal Tinkering Lab?
We follow IB, Cambridge or the UAE curriculum. Can we join?
Questions about delivery, timetable or assessment: see HCD Lab @ School and all questions about HCD Lab, also as a downloadable PDF.
Child safety
Every child safe, supervised and heard.
Safeguarding · PoSH
Background-verified adults, constant supervision and a same-day response to every concern.
Our Child Safety & Safeguarding Policy covers every school programme, residential immersion, online session and apprenticeship, including our commitments under the POCSO Act, 2012 and the PoSH Act, 2013.
HCD School · 2026–27