A Call for better India: Ab bas ‘Phone Uthao, India Ko Padhao’

Thanks to 'Phone Uthao, India Ko Padhao' initiative, you are just one call away to make English speaking a fun and easy task for underprivileged children in India. On #International Literacy Day, Nihar Shanti Amla, launched their nationwide program - #PhoneUthaoIndiaKoPadhao in tandem with its long term commitment to furthering children's education in the country.

#PhoneUthaoIndiaKoPadhao or 'Take A Call', a platform that connects the educated Urban adult to the underprivileged children in rural areas, who want to practice spoken English. The initiative engaged over 55,000 minutes of quality learning so far after the pilot was launched earlier this year.

After the launch on Literacy Day, all that the brand is asking you to do is Take this Call and be a part of a movement to impact the lives of children in rural India, by taking out only 10 minutes of your time in a week.

With Phone Uthao India ko Padhao, the urban volunteers who register need to only commit ten minutes of their time in a week and help these children practice spoken English modules on a phone call. These children call through a toll free IVR number and are connected to a volunteer anywhere in India who is available at that time.

During this phone call, the kids can either practice what they have learnt through their pre-recorded modules or are also free to ask questions on topics they may have learnt in their English class in school. The idea is to help them speak in English on a regular basis so as to build confidence.

The idea was to teach simple spoken English, in a fun and engaging manner, free of cost, to kids. But many of you may wonder, 'Why English?'

The brand believes that the English language is widely considered to be a marker of progress. Moreover, in most places, it also enhances employability.

In order to impart quality education through a medium that connects well with children, they have been running multiple programmes under the Nihar Shanti Paathshala Funwala umbrella.

The Nihar Shanti Paathshala Funwala was conceptualized to help children learn spoken English anytime, anywhere free of cost.

Over the past few years, Nihar Shanti Paathshala Funwala has led massive rural outreach programmes that have positively impacted 7500+ villages with call volumes nearing 8.5 lakh+ from 3 lakh+ unique children in these villages in the past 1 year.

Nihar Shanti Amla also works with Educate Girls (EG), an NGO which provides quality education for all underserved and marginalized girls by mobilising public, private and community resources thus improving access to education and school quality and achieving behavioural, social and economic transformation for all girls in India's gender gap districts thereby creating an India where all children have equal opportunities to access quality education.

In the past year the program has impacted 2 Lakh+ beneficiaries in Dhar, MP and Udaipur, Rajasthan.

A novel and simple way of making a difference towards a child’s life, Phone Uthao India Ko Padhao is a program meant for anyone and everyone who can speak English and can help a child build on the same skill.

So this International Literacy Day, take that phone call and help make a difference to a child’s life. All you need is 10 minutes of your time and a heart to change lives. You can register to be a volunteer by clicking on this link http://bit.ly/2MTJfYk