Google Foundation Supports Indian Literacy Project

NewIndpress: An innovative Indian literacy project – PlanetRead.org – has got funding from Google Foundation. The project, headed by an IIM Ahmedabad don Brij Kothari, has developed a Same Language Subtitling (SLS) method to spread literacy. It leverages the reach of TV, bollywood, folk and devotional music to spread literacy. How it works is that existing TV programmes will be subtitled in the same language as the audio. As villagers read along the lyrics they hum – and subconsciously – it develops their literacy skills. More than half of India’s population is illiterate, so this tool will go a long way in reducing that. The Foundation has awarded Kothari’s PlanetRead.org a grant to increase the number of same-language subtitling programmes available.

Comments have been disabled for this post