India is a vast country with a huge number of children in state run schools. By the time OBLF was founded in 2010, the Government of India had done an excellent job of starting schools in almost every remote/rural area. So the first crucial step in reaching the target of One Billion Literates had been taken. Unfortunately, massive learning deficits were being reported throughout the country year on year by NGO Pratham. Even though only a tiny percentage of children were not in schools, children were dropping out of the school system before high school.

One Billion Literates is an aspirational effort to break an enormous problem into smaller/manageable parts. The vision leverages the existing physical infrastructure of public elementary schools and outlines a customized curriculum to support students beyond classroom learning. 

From one school, one rural district of Anekal outside Bangalore, we expanded to 100+ schools. We believe, the program can be replicated in other parts of the country and has the potential to educate all ages from childhood to adulthood. OBLF leverages the “multiplier effect” of literacy to empower people, enabling them to participate fully in society and contributing to improving livelihoods.

We are dedicated to creating equitable platforms to bridge the urban rural divide in rural India.