Challenge
India’s official literacy rate is expected to cross 80% in Census (2021). But over 60% nominally "literate" people cannot read a newspaper or a simple text. In a population of 1.25 billion (age 7+), India has: 1) 400 million (32%) good readers, 2) 600 million (48%) weak-readers, & 3) 250 million (20%) non-readers. A root cause is low quality of schooling: 50% children cannot read a Grade 2 level text, even in Grade 5. Indians live a life of "Learning Poverty" while in school and later in life.
Description
Same Language Subtitling (SLS) is the idea of subtitling mainstream entertainment on TV in the “same” language as the audio. What you hear is what you read. There is compelling evidence that SLS on A-V content causes automatic and inescapable reading engagement and measurable skill improvement among weak-readers. The main target group is the currently 600 million weak-readers. Additionally, the 250 million non-literates are also expected to benefit through the state's efforts. The majority of these groups are female and rural.
Outcomes
1) Raise the reading skills of 600 million weak-reading viewers 2) Improve the language skills of a billion viewers 3) Provide media access to 65 million Deaf and Hard of hearing persons 4) Support lifelong reading literacy 5) Empower girls and women with better reading abilities
