The World Change Challenge
Room to Read believes that World Change Starts with Educated Children.® We envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that prepares them to be fulfilled and make positive change — in their families, communities and the world.
FACTS
• 266 million people in India cannot Read.
• Inadequate Facilities, Poor Education Quality, Seasonal Migration and Gender bias have led to low learning levels and high dropout rates between ages 6−14
• While over 95 percent of children enroll in primary school, only half of those students graduate from secondary school.
• Around 39 percent of adolescent girls ages 15−18 are not in school. Around two thirds of girls from that age group are engaged in household activities or child labor.
• One in every three child brides in the world being a girl from India.
THE NEED
The government has recognized the urgent need for educational reform, as more than 50 percent of Grade 5 students are unable to read at a Grade 1 level. To address the existing gaps in education, the government is advancing several initiatives to enhance educational instruction and support on a national scale. These efforts include the launch of a new National Education Policy, revision of the National Curriculum Framework and National Program for Foundational Learning — all of which are now in alignment with our own focus on foundational literacy and gender equality. With the foundation laid for Room to Read to serve as a thought partner to the government and school leaders, we are working collaboratively to implement systemic change, ensuring the results we have seen in our programme schools can be replicated in schools across the country
PROGRAM
OUR LITERACY PROGRAM transforms primary schools to enable children to become independent readers and lifelong learners.
Our Literacy Program trains and coaches teachers, creates quality books and curricular materials and establishes libraries filled with diverse children’s books in local languages that can be enjoyed at school or home. We partner with local communities, governments and the publishing industry to test and implement innovative models that help children succeed in school and develop a love of reading.
OUR GIRLS’ EDUCATION PROGRAM helps girls build the skills to succeed in school and make key life decisions.
We prepare girls to make positive change by providing life skills curriculum, opportunities for mentorship and peer support and family and community engagement. Our program supports young people of all genders to build knowledge and skills with which they can create a gender equal world. We help governments deliver similar programs through their own education systems.
Your Contribution Can
• We can continue to meet students and their families where they are and facilitate learning using the most powerful channels available locally.
• Support students in our Literacy Program with distance learning for a full year
• Provide remote mentoring and life skills training to girl participants in our Girls’ Education Program for a full year.
• Printed literacy workbooks distributed at local schools.
• Remote mentoring for adolescent girls to help them navigate the unique challenges of this moment and stay connected to their education, plus a hotline they can call in emergencies.
• Accelerated learning programs to help schools and students catch up as they return to the classroom following pandemic-related school closures.
Help us raise funds for our specific needs.
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A big thank you to all those who have donated on this page.
Room to Read India was officially established in 2003 and presently has programs in twelve states – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi NCR, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
Room to Read is a global organization transforming the lives of millions of children in low-income communities by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, our innovative model focuses on deep, systemic transformation within schools during two time periods that are most critical in a child’s schooling: early primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education.
We work in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations, and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls can complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions.
By focusing on the quality of education provided within the communities and ensuring these outcomes are measured, we have created a model that can be replicated, localized, and sustained by governments. With its global headquarters in San Francisco, Room to Read has benefited 32 million children across 21 low-income countries.
