Cracking the Code: Digital Skilling Success at Scale

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the world of digital skilling, you’ve likely heard about Passport to Earning (P2E) India, part of the YuWaah (Generation Unlimited) initiative by UNICEF. Since its launch in late 2022, the P2E platform has helped more than 2.5 million young people complete digital skills and financial literacy courses in just 18 months. Thanks to the Girls Education and Skills Partnership (GESP), many of the learners have been young women. So, what’s the secret behind this success? We’re peeling back the curtain to share the key insights from our programme team about what works—and what doesn’t—in keeping learners engaged and motivated to complete their online courses.

Keeping It Simple, Engaging, and Scalable: The P2E India Strategy

From the start, P2E India made a clear decision: keep things simple, engaging, and scalable. By focusing on accessibility and user-friendly design, the platform was built to help young people learn without being bogged down by complexity. With bite-sized courses and a straightforward approach, P2E India has created an online learning environment that works for young people. But, of course, it wasn’t just about making things easy. A combination of smart design choices, incentives, and constant engagement played a huge role in the success of the programme. Let’s dig into the details.

What is driving P2E course completions in India?

Short, Punchy Courses with a Reward: Each P2E course requires just a 10-hour commitment, making it easy for learners to fit into their daily lives. The cherry on top? A UN-certified certificate upon completion. This simple reward structure motivated learners to power through courses focused on digital productivity and financial literacy—both crucial skills in today’s workforce.

Less Distraction, More Action: P2E India was laser-focused on keeping learners on track. Time-bound course deadlines, easy-to-use navigation, and physical reminders from mentors or teachers ensured students didn’t lose steam. Nearly 85% of learners who start a course finished it—a completion rate most online programmes can only dream of! For example, most Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have a completion rate of below 10%! When certain courses didn’t resonate, they were quickly pulled from the platform to maintain high engagement.

Incentivizing Completions, not registrations: Instead of celebrating registration numbers, P2E India adopted a results-based model. Implementation partners were incentivized based on course completions, not just enrollments. This meant partners had a real stake in making sure learners finished their courses. They went beyond just getting people to sign up; they actively guided them through the course, offered reminders, and provided ongoing support. This success-driven model pushed partners to actively engage with learners and guide them to the finish line.

Course Content: The Hits and Misses: The P2E team quickly learned that not all content strategies were equally effective. What worked well were simple, engaging videos that used storytelling to captivate learners, along with multiple-choice questions that tested knowledge without overwhelming them. Offering courses in regional languages also made the content more accessible and relatable. On the flip side, highly interactive content proved to be too complex, leading to frustration and higher dropout rates. Similarly, tricky questions with subtle differences in answers confused learners, which negatively impacted course completion rates.

Focused Expansion: Small Start, Big Impact: In the early stages, P2E India focused on just two courses, which helped drive 1 million course completions. Now, with those insights under their belt, the team is expanding its course offerings and developing even more localized content.

The Top Drivers of Success:  Through trial and error, our team uncovered several core elements that fueled course completion:

• Certificates Matter: Learners highly valued the certificates, serving as both an achievement badge and a career booster.
• Deadlines Work: Short deadlines (two weeks, for example) created a sense of urgency, helping learners stick to the programme.
• Mentors and Nudges: Regular reminders and check-ins from mentors helped keep learners engaged, whether through school, phone calls, or training centers.
• Less is More: By offering a few curated course options, P2E reduced decision fatigue and made it easier for learners to focus and finish.

The Bottom Line: Why P2E India’s Approach Works

By sticking to the fundamentals —P2E India has created a digital learning platform that not only scales but also delivers results. This would not have been possible without the support of Accenture, Capgemini, Dubai Cares, Hindustan Unilever, HSBC, Micron, Microsoft, Randstad, and Unilever. While every country has its own unique challenges, the lessons from P2E India offer a roadmap for other programmes looking to boost course completion rates and impact young online learners.

So, what’s next? With our continued focus on refining content and scaling partnerships, P2E India is well on its way to empowering even more young people with the skills they need for the future. As we look to the future, we are building on these lessons to connect the P2E platform with real world livelihoods opportunities.  

Now that’s something worth celebrating!