Education India Project #593

Literacy for a Billion in India!

by PlanetRead

Project Report | Jun 1, 2021
Production of 5 new AniBooks for reading, completed!

By Parthibhan Amudhan | General Manager

Dear Friends,

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and if possible got your vaccines too!

I mentioned in my previous update that we were working on 5 new AniBooks in 3 languages namely English, Hindi and Tamil. I am happy to share that we completed the production of those stories as planned.

With Oracle’s support, we produced the following 5 AniBooks:

Sam's Chirstmas Present
The Village of 5 Poles
Kanchha, the Rhino
Who is our friend?
Just the Way Iam

AniBooks are animated stories powered by Same Language Subtitling (SLS). Please view them by clicking on the links below:

English playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPDzF0B97OtFZ1lFiuN-1eBSiQGgOSKxL

Hindi playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_YQntlygLzYPHuh3HCrzjWPkuchJ6JiK

Tamil playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuTksi-FtuRgXmX32tRxlBi0zv8LYsNol

We have partnered with BookBox, a social enterprise born out of PlanetRead’s SLS innovation. BookBox has been creating AniBooks with SLS and is using its YouTube channel to promote reading. All AniBooks are all available free on BookBox’s YouTube channels, which have over 100 million views and more than 800K subscribers across channels.

AniBooks are platform agnostic and available in the form of CDs, DVDs, internet downloads, mobile Apps and videos that can be played on TVs too. Usually produced in English the first time, they can be easily converted into any language. They currently available in a mix of over 50+ languages (15+ Indian and 35+ international).

For more information about PlanetRead’s work:

President Bill Clinton speaks about PlanetRead: http://tinyurl.com/39epgrm

Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster: http://youtu.be/K7XDMzsLd5o

Coverage by SBS Dateline, Australia https://youtu.be/tOsWToI2PIw

Visit http://www.planetread.org

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Jan 14, 2021
UK Prime Minister Endorses SLS & other updates

By Parthibhan Amudhan | General Manager

Dear Friends,

I hope 2021 is off to a good start for all of you.

Last year was undoubtedly tough for everyone around the world but the year ended with a fantastic endorsement for Same Language Subtitling (SLS) by UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson in their parliament. The best part is we got this endorsement on video: https://youtu.be/F5FuWIP0G88.

Thanks to Ms. Marson MP and Mr. Warren of https://turnonthesubtitles.org/ for their question in the UK parliament.

As you might be aware, two passionate supporters of SLS, Mr. Warren and Mr. Barrett MBE have been working closely with Dr. Kothari (Founder, PlanetRead). They started a campaign called “Turn On The Subtitles (TOTS)” with the aim of making policy makers, broadcasters and parents to turn on the subtitles for children’s programs, by default. To know more, visit: www.turnonthesubtitles.org/research/. This recognition for SLS in the UK parliament would not have happened without their support.

In other news, we have been steadily producing AniBooks (animated stories with SLS) as part of our Oracle funded project. From April to September 2020, we produced 5 AniBooks in 2 languages, namely English and Hindi.

Anand

English: https://youtu.be/-ZIe-MzZsMs

Hindi: https://youtu.be/wxeRMtNRrDM

Cicada's Song

English: https://youtu.be/Y2xYWTfzgVQ

Hindi: https://youtu.be/EyGL4VCj1jA

Gadbad Das in 'No water for you!'

English: https://youtu.be/XLDqwKcK1pU

Hindi: https://youtu.be/Iu7t2Hpwn6A

Let's have an inside day!

English: https://youtu.be/3QTc0bV2-4M

Hindi: https://youtu.be/HL5ZpYM9FI8

The Bee and the Elephant

English: https://youtu.be/LkMcB_dreRc

Hindi: https://youtu.be/AnX-VVzWpaE

We are now working on another set of 5 AniBooks that will be made in 3 languages: English, Hindi and Tamil. We will be completing the production of these AniBooks in the next 2 months.

One major challenge we’re facing is in the distribution of our content via our partners to school children. Due to Covid 19, all schools have been under lock down since March 2020 till date. Hence, we have not been able to reach the children directly.

However, views for AniBooks on our YouTube channel have more than doubled in the last 6 months. April to Sep 2020, we had got 10.5 million views and for the previous 6 months period, we got 4.6 million views.

Once the schools start, we are confident we will be back on track to reaching thousands of children very soon.

Thank you all for your support and here’s to a healthier and safer 2021.

With best wishes,

Parthibhan

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Sep 18, 2020
Streaming for reading

By Parthibhan Amudhan | General Manager

Dear Friends,

Hope you are all staying safe amidst the ongoing pandemic.

Covid-19 has exposed many fault-lines and one such is the need to ensure that, globally, children continue to pick up foundational reading literacy skills, whether they are in or out of school, in certain or uncertain times.

The current situation has locked out 1.4 billion children globally from schools (UNESCO). In India 200 million primary school children (ages 6-14) now spend even more time at home, in front of TV, mostly watching General Entertainment Content (GEC): films, serials, and cartoons. Pre-Covid, average daily viewing was 3h 46m; under lockdown it has jumped to 4h 39m.

EdTech companies and children’s publishers have started offering free educational content via the internet. Schools have been trying to figure out a way to keep the children engaged with WhatsApp groups and other video conferencing tools. But the Indian internet infrastructure has struggled to handle the load and the government authorities were forced to ask mobile operators to throttle the speed.

PlanetRead was recently featured in “The Hindu”. In this article, we talk about how Same Language Subtitling (SLS) of visual content can enable a viewer to develop life-long reading engagement. Why should any movie have subtitles in the same language as the audio? If that sounds absurd, consider why English movies on all streaming platforms come with English subtitles. Click here to read the article now.

We have some new AniBooks (animated stories with SLS) coming soon. I'll let you know about them in our next update.

And finally, I have a request, as you might be aware, PlanetRead has been recognized as a top rated NGO since 2011 (over 8 years now!) and we usually request our close friends and associates to say a few words about their experience with us. If you're a fan of our work, please take 3 minutes to write a review. It would mean a lot to us if you can help keep our top rated ranking of 4+ stars. Click here to post your review now.

Meanwhile, take care and thank you for all the support!

Best wishes,

Parthibhan

Links:

Article in The Hindu

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