School programme · DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad, India
HCD Lab at School.
The design learning elite schools offer, at a global standard, in your school's own rooms. Students find a real problem and solve it. Your teachers lead it, trained at IIT Hyderabad, India and supported by DIC Hub faculty. No new building, no costly equipment, no disruption to board exams. In step with Dubai's Education 33 (E33): learner-centred, future-ready and hands-on.
What it is
A workshop, a project and a jury. Every term.
A five-day workshop. A twenty-hour mentored project. A jury at the end. Students work on real problems from their own school and neighbourhood.
01
Find a problem
02
Research
03
Prototype
04
Test
05
Present
What you need
Use the rooms you already have.
A design lab is a way of working, not an expensive room.
You need
A room and simple materials
Any classroom or activity room · pin boards for ideas · a 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 hire. If you already have an maker space or STEM lab or makerspace, we use it too.
Why it matters
School teaches answers. This teaches questions.
Machines can now produce answers faster than any student. What they can't do is notice a problem nobody has named, ask a better question, or build something people need.
That's what HCD Lab at School teaches. It's the hands-on, experiential learning schools across the UAE are moving towards, and the kind of learning the world's best schools are known for.
01
Think like a designer
People and systems first. Solutions second.
02
Make like a maker
Colour, form, function. By hand.
03
Test like a scientist
Every idea is a guess until it's tested.
04
Act like an entrepreneur
Turn a tested idea into something of value.
Who teaches it
Your teachers lead it. DIC faculty back them.
You don't need to hire anyone. Your teachers are trained, given everything they need, and supported all year.
01 · Train
Trained through the FTP
Your teachers attend the Faculty Training Programme: five days at DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad, India. They come back certified, with their first lessons ready.
About the FTP02 · Teach
Everything ready to use
Curriculum, session plans, the course book, project templates, project report formats and simple marking rubrics.
03 · Support
DIC faculty alongside
DIC Hub faculty co-teach the workshop, mentor projects, sit on the jury, and support your teachers all year.
When it runs
In the timetable, at weekends, or in the holidays. You choose.
01
In the timetable
The workshop in one week, the project in regular lab periods over three weeks.
02
Weekends
Workshop and project spread across Saturdays.
03
Vacations
The five-day workshop as a holiday camp, the project in the next term.
04
A mix
Whatever fits your calendar. We plan it with you.
Board years
Grades 10 and 12 are left alone.
Board-exam classes are never disturbed. The programme runs in Grades 5–9 and Grade 11.
A cycle, step by step
Workshop. Project. Jury.
- Week 1The five-day workshop. The basics of design and the design thinking method. Each team picks a real problem from its school or community.5 days
- Weeks 2–4The project. Twenty hours of mentored work to research, prototype, test and improve, about seven hours a week.20 hours
- End of cycleThe jury. Every team presents its project and explains it. Every student hands in a project report.Jury
- OptionalPre-incubation. HCD Institute and DIC review selected projects, and some may move on to incubators such as IIT incubation labs. It's competitive, and never guaranteed.Selective
Upper Primary
Grades 5–8
Hands-on and playful: watching, making and testing ideas about problems in the classroom, at home and around the neighbourhood.
Secondary
Grades 9 and 11
Deeper research, a value proposition and the course book, with the pre-incubation pathway for the strongest projects.
What students take away
By the end of each cycle, every student has…
researched a real problem, designed a fix, built and tested a prototype, written a project report, and presented to a jury.
01
Understand
People, problems and systems · Design research
02
Make
Sketch · Prototype · Build and test
03
Think
Question assumptions · Find alternatives · Use evidence
04
Act
Work in teams · Present and defend · Spot opportunities
Assessment & certification
Judged on the work. Certified by DIC, IIT Hyderabad, India.
What the jury looks for
Five simple questions.
- Research — did they understand the people and the context?
- Problem — is it sharp, and real?
- Ideas — did they look at alternatives?
- Prototype and testing — what did users teach them?
- Presentation — can they explain it, and stand behind it?
Certification
One certificate, from DIC, IIT Hyderabad, India.
Every student who completes the cycle gets a certificate from DIC, IIT Hyderabad, India, and a project report for their portfolio.
The course book
Introduction to Design Thinking and Innovation.
An Entrepreneurship Curriculum for Indian High School Students.
- AuthorsDeepak John Mathew · Jacinta Bell · Mathew Sebastian
- PublisherDIC Academic & The Institute of Human-Centred Design
- ISBN978-81-689910-4-0
- Who gets itEvery secondary student gets a copy. Grades 5–8 use activity material from the same curriculum, adapted for their age.
- Backed by researchDIC PhD scholars study how design thinking changes students' aptitude over time. Data is collected only with parental consent and ethics approval, under India's DPDP Act, 2023.
Who's behind it
The DIC Hub team.
A school programme from The Institute of Human-Centred Design, built with the Design Innovation Centre (DIC Hub), IIT Hyderabad, India.
Dr Deepak John Mathew
Founding Board Member, HCD Institute · Professor, IIT Hyderabad, India · Nodal Head, DIC Hub
Elias V
Faculty, DIC Hub · Research Scholar, IIT Hyderabad, India
How to start
One MoU. One term to begin.
What your school gets
A programme that runs every term
Trained teachers · ready-to-teach curriculum and project report templates · DIC faculty support · DIC certificates · a growing wall of student projects to show parents.
How the partnership works
From 100 students per school
In cohorts of 30. One programme fee covers the workshop, mentoring, materials, course book, jury, certification and teacher training. We go through the details when we meet.
01
Meet
A 30-minute conversation with your leadership team.
02
Choose
Grades, format (timetable, weekends or vacations) and dates.
03
Train
Your teachers attend the FTP.
04
Sign
An MoU between your school, HCD Institute and DIC.
05
Begin
The first cohort starts in a classroom you already have.
FAQ
What principals ask us.
Do we need a special lab?
Who teaches it?
Will it disturb board exams?
Does it have to be in the timetable?
Is it the same standard as elite schools?
What does it cost?
What do students get?
Pre-incubation and admission pathways are selective, and never a guaranteed outcome of taking part.
Start with a 30-minute conversation