The scale of the challenge is clear in the official data. India’s overall unemployment rate was 5.1% in July 2026, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Among 15 to 29 year olds it was 15.3% in April, three times the national figure. The India Skills Report 2026 puts national employability at 56.35%, so roughly four in ten assessed candidates are not yet job-ready. Language compounds the gap. The 2011 Census found that only 10.6% of Indians speak some English, yet most upskilling is still delivered in it.
Masai does not claim this is easy. Low English literacy and weak economic conditions make this an uphill battle, and Masai has chosen it deliberately. About 70% of its students come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, learners who have rarely had access to good upskilling of any kind. Its programmes include Analytics with Agentic AI and Applied AI & ML Essentials, which is also taught in Tamil and Telugu.
“India’s jobs crisis is not a problem any one company can solve, and we won’t pretend this is easy. Hiring is uncertain, English literacy is low, and most upskilling is priced for people who already have advantages. About 70% of our students come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, so we have cut our course fees by 50% to put quality upskilling within their reach. With mentors who manage teams today, and the IIT ecosystem behind our programmes, learners get training grounded in the real job market. Access should depend on ambition, not on where you live or what you can pay”, said Prateek Shukla, CEO and Founder Masai School.
Masai’s mentors are practising industry professionals who already manage teams. They teach from the real job market, so the course doubles as on-the-job training. The person teaching you may be your future manager, and every session is a chance to make an impression on someone who hires. Learners also get access to the IIT ecosystem and affiliation through Vishlesan i-Hub IIT Patna, along with placement support for a market where hiring cannot be taken for granted.
The partnership reflects a plain reality. No institute can address a gap of this size alone. IITs bring academic credibility. Reaching small-town learners in their own languages at an affordable price requires an operating engine built for that purpose. Masai provides it, and Vishlesan i-Hub IIT Patna enables it. The i-Hub’s programmes have already enrolled 14,971 learners, almost 60% of them studying in a language other than English.
“No Institute, on its own, can close India’s skilling gap. The problem is too large, and the learners who need help most are often the furthest from our campuses. Masai has built the operating engine to reach them, in their own languages and at a price they can afford, and the i-Hub is proud to enable that work. Our own enrollment data shows that nearly 60% of our learners study in a language other than English. Aptitude was never the barrier. Access was. By bringing IIT-linked credibility together with Masai’s industry mentors and reach, we are making sure that a learner’s city, language or income no longer decides who gets to upskill.” said Prof. Dr Sai Kiran Oruganti, Ceo Vishlesan i-Hub IIT Patna.
About Vishlesan i-Hub IIT Patna: Vishlesan I-Hub Foundation- Indian Institute of Technology Patna (TIH IIT Patna), a Section 8 company established under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, is hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna.Vishlesan i-Hub at IIT Patna is part of a national mission, advancing AI in speech, video, and text analytics for sectors like health, education, and security.
About Masai School: Masai is an outcome driven career school. Our mission is to skill India’s untapped & underutilized talent, and to train them for some of the most in-demand jobs in the world. We are introducing a new model of higher education in which we, Masai,
invest in our students’ future and success. As India’s fastest growing career institute, Masai has one goal: unlocking the human potential of India by making our education system outcome driven. https://www.masaischool.com/
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