back

Business Standard | Right to Read Program on a Roll in India, Africa, and Central America

Business Standard, RightToRead, ReadToMe

The RightToRead initiative was launched to address the massive literacy gap in India.  ReadToMe is an AI multi-sensory reading and comprehension software that powers RightToRead. The program is designed to introduce  minimum change yet deliver best outcomes. The existing school textbooks are read in class during normal school hours. 

The initial pilot was implemented across 100 schools in 6 states in partnership with American India Foundation. The RightToRead program reached a major milestone in 2015, when EnglishHelper in partnership with USAID launched RightToRead in 4889 schools in 8 states covering a total of one million students across grades 1 to 8.   Independently conducted assessments showed a 20 to 40% improvement in students’ reading abilities across the schools.

By 2018, the footprint reached 15000 schools benefiting 3.5 million students. Notably, the government of Maharashtra has approved the implementation of RightToRead in 65,000 schools in the state . 

RightToRead is an initiative without borders. The  success of the program in India has enabled EnglishHelper to expand to schools in Africa (Sierra Leone & Nigeria), Asia (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal ) and Central America (Nicaragua, Honduras & Guatemala). In addition, the government of Sri Lanka has recently accorded its approval for implementing RightToRead in all government schools in Sri Lanka. This will enable the program to reach 4.1 million students in over 10,000 schools in the country. By the end of this academic year, it is estimated, the program  will cover 100,000 schools in India reaching in excess of 20 million students.

The company has leveraged its AI multi-sensory technology to launch EnglishBolo™ . This program is aimed at improving spoken English of low income job age youth and adults.The unique features of this app include distance teaching. Learners  can book lessons with teachers who are remotely located in various parts of the country. For convenience, teacher lessons are available through the day and 7 days of the week.

 The original article has been written and published by the Business Standard:

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/a-tech-driven-programme-to-help-govt-school-students-master-english-119062200673_1.html

(June 2019)

To know more about  RightToRead and its impact, visit the EnglishHelper website.