About the challenge

According to a UNESCO report of September 2016, “India will be half a century late in achieving its universal education goals.” Hence, we will achieve universal primary education only by 2050.

THE CHALLENGE

 India has 300 million children enrolled in school. About 150 million 5-10 year olds are in primary education; of which nearly 50% cannot read well. Inability of children to read at grade level hits India’s poorest the hardest, leading to entrenched poverty in society. If all 5-10 year old children are reading for fun and for meaning, they do well in school and are prepared to bring positive change to all, leading to sustainability for the people and the planet

THE 300M ALLIANCE

 Even to reach universal reading for all our children by 2050, India will need all of us to help! Hence a group of like-minded people and organizations, initiated by Katha as Lead Partner, is on a mission to change things for our children—taking baby steps at first!

WAVE 1 OF 300M CHALLENGE

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VISION

Every child reading well, for fun and for meaning, to create a sustainable world for all. Every child a Reader-Leader!

MISSION: We will —

1. Bring all children to reading for fun and meaning, starting with primary school children. We’ll strive to be disruptive—faster, more frugal, more far-reaching and efficient.
2. Strengthen reading for meaning with fun, colourful books that focus on Girls. Earth. Equity. Kindness. We believe children can be the change that can make India a more compassionate space for all life forms if they have books that give them stories that have problem-solving protagonists and deep-thinking characters.
3. Bring in grassroots and civil society volunteers where each one teaches one—be the one—whether a school, a library or an individual child.
4. LEAP! We will Leverage, Advocate and Partner for strength, so children and adults who can read, read together with diffident child-readers who are at risk of
dropping out of school.
5. And so…strengthen the government school system with mindful, well-designed books and learning that enhance the joy of learning

Our Work

To tackle with the 300M challenge, we work with partners, communities and the government, and for this we are going the RIPL! way. RIPL or Reading for Inclusive Public Learning is a social, inclusive process that brings children, youth, adults (professionals and retired people) into helping all children, ages 5-10 at first, to read well.
Read more about the 300m plan here!

Using Tech as a Lever!

About 50% of the 300 million children in India cannot read well. Katha uses technology as lever to reach books to the remotest of areas to enhance the joy of reading and building a nation of reader-learners! The ebooks and mobile application will go into the hands of grassroots volunteers and mentors in rural/urban India in multiple languages. Learn more about our tech initiatives:
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KaDL

KaDL stands for Katha Digital Lab, that makes use of all things digital for creating impact!

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KITES

Katha IT and E-commerce School has been offering quality IT education to children & adults from the communities for the past 17+ years!

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Robotics Lab

Katha is nurturing scientists and innovators in the grassroots of India!

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Padho Pyaar Se

Our teachers’ website fosters engagement and creativity in government schools!

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Opportunities

We have some fabulous partners from social, education and corporate sectors willing to contribute and make it a better world for children! Join us in this journey!