Satyarthi Summer School 2026 — Why 25 Young People Are About to Have the Most Important Summer of Their Lives
Every so often, something comes along that quietly shifts the ground beneath you. Not loudly. Not with fanfare. Just — differently, permanently, completely. That's what people who attended last year describe when they talk about Satyarthi Summer School 2026 and what it did to how they see themselves and their role in the world.
Satyarthi Summer School 2026 is a fully residential, immersive leadership programme happening from 22 June to 12 July 2026 across two cities: Jaipur and New Delhi. It brings together exactly 25 young people between the ages of 18 and 25, selected through a careful, three-stage process that looks beyond grades and résumés and asks something simpler and harder: Are you genuinely committed to creating change?
The programme is rooted in the philosophy of Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who defines compassion not as a feeling but as a force — one capable of dismantling systems of injustice when it is trained, directed, and acted upon. Satyarthi Summer School 2026 takes that philosophy and builds a 30-day experience around it, one that alternates between deep intellectual engagement and raw, unfiltered field exposure.
Participants in Satyarthi Summer School 2026 spend time inside SMGC's grassroots projects — not as observers, but as learners who are expected to apply what they see. They work with the Satyarthi Compassion Quotient™ framework in real community contexts, not hypothetical case studies. They learn to craft narratives that don't just describe problems but invite people into solutions.
A participant from Palestine who attended last year described how immersed she became in conversations about compassion as a transformative force — and how those conversations made her reflect deeply on her values and the kind of impact she wanted to leave. A participant from India spoke of being inspired to build a world where compassion guides policies, not just personal choices. This is what Satyarthi Summer School 2026 does. It makes things personal in the most productive way possible.
Beyond storytelling and field work, Satyarthi Summer School 2026 sharpens what the programme calls the 3Ds: Dream big and better, Discover your inner power and outside opportunities, and Do what it takes to act now. These aren't poster slogans. They're structured into every workshop, every field visit, every debrief session that participants move through across the three weeks.
The cost is INR 47,000 for Indian participants and USD 500 for international ones — all meals, accommodation, and field travel included. Financial aid is available for those who need it, and Satyarthi Summer School 2026 is transparent about the fact that no deserving applicant should be priced out of this experience.
After the programme ends, graduates become part of the Satyarthi Youth Network — a youth-led platform built by last year's cohort of Satyarthi Summer School 2026 that continues to grow through collaborative campaigns, mentorship, and access to funding for compassionate action projects.
Applications are open until 15 May 2026. Offer letters go out by 31 May. And the summer — the important one, the one that doesn't fade — begins on 22 June.