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Beyond Words - Kishan Gopal (Tata Consultancy Services) · WHAT I'VE LEARNT

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: With almost a million beneficiaries in 17 states of India, the Tata Adult Literacy Program is truly transformative.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Adult Literacy Program was set up to help the Government of India improve adult literacy rates using the computer-based functional literacy solution.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Using the CBFL model, non-literate adult learners can achieve functional literacy like reading, writing, and arithmetic, within 50 hours over a period of three months, which is about a sixth of the time demanded by conventional learning methods.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: The software is available in nine Indian and three foreign languages.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: It fosters strategic partnerships with local governments, jail authorities, NGOs, and other companies to enhance the reach.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: The program has a unique focus on women and adults from marginalized communities and has been extensively used by prison authorities as a reformation process for the inmates.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Kishan Gopalada started his professional career with Tata Consultancy Services, serving as design engineer with one of the world's largest medical manufacturing companies.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Finding passion in serving, he joined the pioneering batch of Teach for India and taught as a primary teacher in low-income schools in India's largest lands for two years.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: He joined TCS being the bridge between corporate and society and lead corporate social responsibility for Central, North and Western India.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Over the period of years, he worked with lots of non-GEO literates and empowered them with self-respect, confidence and realliance.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: He heads TCS's literacy as a service that served 1.1 million plus people, 80% of which are women across India, and Burikna Faso.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: He is father of two daughters and is a meditations practitioner, as well as a volunteer at Sabrahmati Gandhi Ashram.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we're thrilled to have the specialist from the Tata Consultancy Services Literacy Team on the Beyond Words podcast to shine the light on this powerful literacy movement and to hear what they're doing in this space.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Looking forward to chatting to you and hearing about all the wonderful work that you're doing with Tata.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, how did you, you're a teacher by profession.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: How did you first start on this journey?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to us a little bit about that.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Deborah.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Very good afternoon, and so happy to see your smiling face there.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: I am an engineer by qualification, and I did serve as an engineer, design engineer for a few hours, re-engineering endosurgical equipment for one of the largest organizations.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: But my passion took me to teach in slums, and that led me to commit two years full-time as Teach for India Fellow.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where I taught in slums of Pune and Dharavi, which is Asia's largest slum.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I was of this notion that let me go and change the world, but I realized that let's be the change.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: How do I be the change?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: And thankfully, all through Tata Consultancy Services was supporting me.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: And as I came back in 2011, I joined corporate social responsibility team.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I learned about the power and potential that literacy has.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: As being a teacher, I realized that how the children whose parents are non-literate, and with that, by what I mean is they even never held a pen or a pencil ever in their hand.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to fathom.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's hard to fathom, isn't it?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, per 2011 census in India, there are more than 250 million such non-literates.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Across the globe, there are more than 750 million non-literate people by 2017, UNESCO report.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And for me to see that how, particularly the women, who is the fulcrum of the family, who is the lady, particularly in developing nations, is not just doing the household chores, but is also working part-time or full-time to ensure that there is enough for bread and butter.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so that she and her family can put the kid to the best of the institution for the education, whether it is government or private.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: And when the kids come home, they don't know what the kid is going through.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's it's a matter of shame uh for her.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel that that really, really uh kind of you know challenges the whole spectrum of the family.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where realizing that if this woman can be made literate, uh, with the efforts that TCS has done in the last 20 years, while I'll touch base more upon how what and what we are doing, but how do we empower this fulcrum of the family, which is a woman, so that the impact is not just transformational on herself, but it is transgenerational?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there's a few things there that are interesting.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, obviously as an engineer, you're highly literate and highly academic.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that you utilize those resources and applied them in a teaching role in one of the largest slums in India says something about your passion and your character.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that must have been quite an emotional journey for you to see that, as you've outlined, the vulnerability, particularly of the women who are the centerpiece of the family and yet are so ill-equipped to navigate because they don't have the literacy skills.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, to have not held a pen or paper.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's just, you know, it's very hard to process that that is still, and that there are so many who don't have that resource.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: So what you're actually saying is there's got to be a strong cultural shift as well, in terms of it being seen as a priority.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you're also saying you need an intergenerational resonance there because a lot of these mothers are focused on, or women are focused on running the family, but the it's hard for them to process that the children are like going to school, but really I'm assuming some are and some aren't, or just trying to survive, not being able to read a medical bottle, as we've referred to before, or the most basic literacy.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: How is how have you emotionally found this journey?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's been two years you've worked there, yeah?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, between 2009 to 11, I taught as a primary school teacher, but being a teacher of these students, I realized that how their families uh are ill-equipped.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the focus is the academic journey or rather holistic well-being, holistic growth uh of that kid.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: But uh the time that he's spending in the classroom is limited, maybe say five to six hours a day, uh about 150 to 100, 180 days a year.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's like you know, less than 30 percent, about 30 to 40 percent time that he's spending in the school, or even less, like if we consider 24 hours and I do calculation for 12 hours, right?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Most of the time that he's spending is in his community and with his family, particularly during the formative time until the kid is going through some primary schooling, right?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's where I realize that, like, while my focus was absolutely in the classroom, which ought to be, if I am a teacher, that's where I should pour my energy in.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: But when I would see the spectrum of where the kids are coming from, what is the education level background of their parents, particularly of all the other sociocultural, economic aspects that these old kids are coming from.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: But when I saw this relational aspect of the education of their parents or literacy level of their parents and their growth vis-a-vis in the classroom, while the potential that they have, that as a teacher, I would have a close eye on all the 39, 40 kids that I had.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I could relate that if we are to accelerate their academic journey and holistic well-being as well, it is paramount that in the back end, how do we serve their parents, particularly mothers?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Again, as I shared, that's sensitive as well, wherein a woman, since you asked the emotional aspect, so there has like in the last about a decade or more interacting with thousands of women, I heard so many stories wherein you know, these women would work hard uh and would earn about three two to three dollars a day so that they can have bread and butter.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, when there is a parent-teacher meeting uh in the school, and this kid whom she is putting in through the education would come home and tell that, mom, there is a parent-teacher meeting, but I don't want you to be there in my classroom because you would put a thumbprint and I would be ashamed.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's it shattered my heart.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, how come this, you know, um, this mother who is putting everything that she has so that this kid can go to the best of the school?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the kid is not in a way, I would not say that the kid is not right or wrong, but he's listening from the society and comparing that.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, how my friends would think or feel when you would be knowledge, or for that matter, the husband who would say, despite she is the one who is taking care of all the household chores, that hey, you are of no use because you don't know how to read.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: You can't go independently to the bus, you don't know what your right is, you don't know you know what what medicine to get, what is the expectation, simple basic aspects, but that shatters the respect of that women.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, of course it would.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, the other thing is that as you say, I mean, there is just it's just an all-pervasive, uh it filters through the whole family.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, a child, then, you know, how does he respect?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: He might respect his mother who is doing certain things, but then the issue of shame and and and how do we so is there a way that the school system or the way that you are actually you've got access to these children, is there a way to filter it back into the family, or is it too challenging to try and do that through the school system, or you know, what what what can be done, or is it just focusing on getting these kids as literate as possible?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the priority.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so there are two problem pieces here, and I want to make it very clear again.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: One is the student, the child, right?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: And uh behind the child is the mother or the father, mother particularly, or the whole ecosystem who is at his home.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I was teaching in slums, right?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and slums are the places where usually uh people uh would people would migrate from different parts of the country, and those who are daring or courageous would come out largely, right?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like uh uh not everyone would come.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: But when I go back and see in these villages or the uh the parts where these parents are coming from, there the literacy rate is a huge challenge, right?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: So the teaching experience that I had was an eye-opener for me to see how the how this is really an important problem statement, and gratefully, Tata Consultancy Services of all the other corporates in the country were addressing it.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And when I learned about that solution, I felt that hey, let me try it.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And first thing that I did when I joined back TCS in central India, our Lucknow office, there we had these uh housekeeping staff, and uh they had been to school, but it'd been it's been quite some time, grade two, three level, and they've forgotten almost everything.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: And there was this male here.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this person, we we empowered him with literacy, and he shared that post-literacy when I went back.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, pre-literacy, pre-being neoliterate, when I would go to my hometown, which is again from Lucknow, Central India, to 150 kilometers.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: My when my daughter would come to me and she would ask for help that, hey Papa, would you please help me in reading me or solving this problem or you know, unlocking what my teacher is asking me to do?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And because I don't know, I would first avoid her.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: But she would come back because she's my daughter.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: And uh to hide my own shame, I would shoe her away.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Teaching in the slums, and I come came back to the corporate, joining corporate social responsibility team, and knowing that we have a solution, first I need to try it firsthand.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I think.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that's where in my own vicinity where I was working, I realized there are non-literate males as well.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: They come from again further distant places, far more deeper parts of the country.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: India is a huge country, and uh, right?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, there when I was I was interacting, and we we realized that few people uh would require either refresher or absolute uh literacy.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: There, uh, this story came to me that how this person's life transformed.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Once he became literate, this daughter would come to him.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: He it's not that he became master of everything, it's like yeah, I understood.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, three months program, 55 hours of teaching, learning through using you know, uh theory of cognition, laws of perception, and audiovisuals, the multimedia and uh pedagogical aspects are also being you know kept intact so that an a person with 15 plus years of age group who has the basic knowledge of the language but doesn't know how to read and write, can be empowered with functional literacy, which comprises of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: And that changed his life.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Not that he became master, but he started interacting with her.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: That it's okay, we have a problem.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: I know this bit, but let's go and ask someone, let's explore together.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: That opened his own learning capabilities because this blot that hey, you are of no use because you don't know how to read and write and do basic arithmetic, right?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: So he would not even attempt so it liberated him and and it also probably empowered him to feel confident, and that's a really good story.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to actually ask you that, and that's a very good example.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, do you think that so that's one anecdote, and I'm sure there are many.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And as you say, it's a very emotional thing to watch people, you know, so vulnerable when you know there's a solution that's actually quite simple.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I've been looking at some of the research, and actually it's incredible as you just referred to.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't take, I think you mentioned here, I was reading, that it's, you know, it can be 50 hours over a period of three months, which is about a sixth the time demanded by conventional learning methods.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's incredible that you could get what you're what I'm seeing is that what you're doing at Tata Services is you can actually get quite quick traction, yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: That people are so talk to me about that.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: You're starting to streamline it so that it's not like, oh, you have to spend two years studying in order to be literate.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: You're trying to make it as as efficient and effective as possible.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, absolutely right.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, see, the the uh I'm not a pedagogical expert here, but what I know for sure is the power of the program and the scientific research that we poured in.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: And we started it.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Our first chairperson, Dr.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: FC Cowley, he and we saw that hey, we are moving ahead with technology, while India is leading information technology organized uh country, and TCS certainly is a pioneering one.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: How do we leverage this to solve this problem of addressing non-literate people?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where a researchers' team from Tata Consultancy Services sat together, studied the pedagogical perspectives and aspects, and how would an adult learn?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And some of the aspects, like you know, the person would have a knowledge of the language, right?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: And uh then we also partnered with National Literacy Mission Authority of India in understanding what their content is, and then leveraging technology, our research, and content.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: We came up with this solution now known as literacy as a service, and it's available in nine Indian languages and uh even uh three foreign languages, wherein we are working actively in Burkina Faso as well.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: But in India, Hindi is a belt which is spoken language, Hindi language is spoken in many states, eight to ten states, and uh that's the kind of you know primary chunk of our focus, where how do we enable uh various organizations, uh corporates, individuals, and now governments?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: You would be happy to know that yesterday only, uh, with one of the major stake, Madhya Pradesh in India, which hosts about 14 more than a little more than 14 million non-literates, we are partnering with them and uh in a very consultative uh manner, leveraging the technology and the know-how that we have.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: How do we address this problem at scale so that the individuals who are going to teach, right?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I am not a teacher by qualification as well, right?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: But my passion might teach me something.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: But if I want you or someone else to leverage this content, the content should be structured in a manner that it takes care of 80 to 90 percent of the key deliverables.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Then my role is just a catalyst as a kind of.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: I understand, yeah.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: So to engage.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: So your role is to engage in the hire, engage, to facilitate, to assist where there is a struggle, and and and and it also doesn't start from you know, starting from the scratch, which is alphabetic, right?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like the way how English is taught, it's it doesn't start in good schools with A, B, C, D, right?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: It starts in phonics.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: The kids would relate with the sound, would relate with the letter, and then you know, different words would be formed.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: The similar, thankfully, Indian languages are very strong at phonics.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: There are rare exceptions, unlike English, right?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that really helps in unlocking the language within a day.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like your name is Deborah Blasky Marks, right?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, correct.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Krishan.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Within a day, for Hindi, the first chapter comprises of three words and one phonetical sound, m ka na.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Two letters from my name, k and n, are addressed.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: And in your name, k and m, blaskies k and marks m are addressed, right?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: With common sense.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: If this person is able to relate, and that's what how the pedagogical and architect.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's interesting.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a strong audible.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: She would, yeah, there is an audio and visual, and then we are also leveraging the puppet theater model that how you know uh on screen different letters are coming, they're what they are voiced out, and the formation of these different letters make new words, right?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: So the focus is just on three letters and one phonetical sound, and then the emphasis on identifying and relating with that.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: So they would be able to relate that hey, Mark's Ma, I know, right?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Kishan's ka, I know, and with common sense, would be able to know if it is written in Hindi, they would see ah ka, it starts with k, it must be kishan, even though they might not know what is you know, Sher or what is Deborah.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: So that's common sense.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Would give them a sense that, hey, this is not that difficult.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: This is another challenge for these people, particularly those uh who who are in in day-to-day work and those who either dropped out for unforeseen reasons who started the schooling grade one, two, and couldn't complete, they have a notion, or they have seen people who are going to school and studying through a typical chalk and board methodology, right?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Where in a teacher is standing uh with an authority, authoritative way.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's don't fear I am not young now, I might not be able to grasp what is being conveyed, communicated, or taught.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: So there is that inherent fear, and with that, that also holds them to start, something new to learn, right?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that is another uh important factor.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's an important factor.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually think that the you know, you refer to the technology, and obviously, Tata services is, you know, you're at the forefront.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's what Tata does.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's to have the technological access to utilize extraordinary resources like that means that there are more and more ways to present that in a non-threatening way.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to, it doesn't have to be you're saying this technological um access is a little less scary for them if they're nurtured in a way also with someone like yourself or teachers.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's about how you teach, not just what you teach.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: And why, more than anything else, why like to understand who is learning, why that person would be keen, what are those impediments that might be the roadblocks for him, right?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: And why that person should learn so that he or she knows the impact of the benefits that literacy would bring in.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: They would know few, but they would be hesitant.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, why is really important, and then why of the person.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is imparting the knowledge, right?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's not, it's not that I just want to clarify that it's not that you know I just give you an access of the content and you go through it on your own, and you would say, you know, impart your interval.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: There ought to be a facilitator, a catalyst, a human intervention for that non-literate to become a neo-literate, and hence the importance of the person who is imparting why he's doing, and then how do I enable that person's journey as a facilitator or a trainer or a teacher, uh, so that he or she can go and share, right?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, and then certainly what is uh obvious.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, absolutely, you're nailing on how what yeah, that makes a lot of sense also.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: I suppose the the notion of um you talk about the anxiety and and a lot of the emotional overlays, and that's why the human element working with the technological element is critical.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds as if this is pretty innovative and quite cutting edge, and it's a progressing.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you tell me, is it progressing?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting are you making inroads um in the literacy space, which it sounds like you're making very big inroads?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about that and what resonance you're getting from the beneficiaries of this these programs.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, thank you for asking.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely gaining the traction.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, as I shared, like we empowered so far 1.1 million people, which is huge.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: But when I see the scale of those who are you have to receive, it's not that huge, right?
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's small.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: But thankfully, every learner matters.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the interactions, like and the focus, emphasis on changing the life of that individual as I use the terminology, transformational impact on that individual and transgenerational, that really uh gives us confidence.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I think our focus and emphasis is that how do we verbalize these impacts to the masses, to the audience that matters, right?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: And thankfully, in last few years, uh, we are finding partnerships with the different Tata group of companies, with different organizations.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Rotary is one supporter there.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yesterday I was in a program where there were 4,000 plus learners who completed literacy, they were celebrated uh with uh with their appreciation and acknowledgement.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I was interacting with these women who come from you know the the hinterlands of uh one of the backward districts of Maharashtra, not very far from Mumbai, which is the financial capital of the country, I can say so.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: And um these women were so elated to share their joy that now they won't have to struggle responding to their children or having that sense of self-respect, or more than anything else, capacity to take decisions on their own.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: This agency that has been curated, activated in them, helps them to be a better mother, uh a householder, uh a lady who can take better economic decisions, uh, more grill uh more prone towards saving.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then we also are incorporating uh citizen entitlement awareness modules.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: And and we already have financial literacy and digital literacy is next one.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: So looking at this scale and sharing it as a package, building on the foundation of functional literacy, we are unlocking their self-respect, creating an agency, activating self-confidence, and putting them on a path of self-reliance.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, governments are also coming forward.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was about to say, yeah, governments have no, governments have to address this.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I see you're working with the Indian government, and it's just pivotal.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it it's it must be fundamental to the scaffolding of the country to have that unification of the corporate sector, the governments, and all of the private partnership is the key here, and with the state, as I was sharing, Madhya Pradesh, it'd be happy to know that while in Mumbai there was this program that I witnessed, uh, our team also witnessed close to a million people sitting in national institution of open schooling's example for these new literates.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so that is giving us hope.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: That is giving us courage that, hey, uh, with these public-private partnerships with different states and the central government, with the know-how, passion, compassion technology that we have, uh, the solution that we have built and the learning that we have in the last 21, 20, 22 years of journey, we can really uh create a massive impact across the country.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the that's where like we are heading towards.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And uh maybe next year, this time, you would be happy to know that from one million, we uh we we we are at a few millions and going ahead uh collectively with with various partners, particularly governments.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: How do we address this issue at large for the nation?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think that is it is really wonderful and fascinating to hear also the enthusiasm and people like yourself.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a there must be a lot of gratitude because to have people driving this, and um we are so thrilled that you've taken the time to talk to us on the Beyond Words podcast because your story is really important.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And um, at the summit, the World Literacy Summit, I'm sure that people will be very interested to hear what's happening with Tata because it's a very big driver of the literacy movement, and we're very grateful to have people like yourself join us and tell us your story.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, thank you so much for your time and your energy and your passion.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Deborah.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: I really cherished uh interacting with you, uh, the thoughtfulness that you are bringing and the wisdom that you are holding and spreading.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: More power to you and your noble intentions, and look forward to create more such uh uh transformational impacts on individuals, but more than that on self in the spirit of being the change.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: Let's bring the change.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you and wishing you well, and hopefully, we will see you one day in Australia.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Let's hope so.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Deborah.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well at the World Literacy Foundation we believe in literacy is the foundation of lifelong learning and education.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: People who cannot read or write experience difficulties with simple everyday tasks, such as reading the label of a medicine bottle, filling in a job application, or understanding a traffic sign.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: When we help someone to acquire literacy skills, we're empowering them to access to better opportunities in life to break the poverty cycle.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's a global organisation in Africa, Latin America, the United States, United Kingdom and in Australia.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: The World Literacy Foundation is on a mission to ensure that every child, regardless of geographic location, has the opportunity to acquire literacy skills and books to reach their full potential.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're striving to eradicate the literacy by 2040.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Reading and writing should just be a basic right, not a privilege.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: So please, if you're interested, head to our website at the World Literacy Foundation to see what is happening globally, this extraordinary organisation when we realise that there are 750 million people who cannot read and write.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: So see if you can contribute and make a difference.