Qualcomm Incorporated has teamed up with Sesame Workshop India, an organization promoting mobile education in India, to launch the Radiophone project – an initiative to provide scores of children from migrant populations with consistent educational experiences.
Under the umbrella of Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative and Sesame Workshop India’s Galli Galli Sim Sim initiative (the Indian version of Sesame Street), the firms are hoping to have an impact on the children of India’s migrant labor communities which have typically been amongst the most marginalized groups in society.
With their parents constantly moving around the country for work, these children are constantly uprooted, pulled from schools and brought to areas where they face both language and social barriers, making continuing education a challenge.
For young children in particular, this can have particularly problematic effects, with studies by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization claiming that quality education plays a vital role in forming young minds and preparing kids for school, as well as a sustainable economic and social future.
Galli Galli Sim Sim targets the 0-8 age group with its educational radio content, with third party research already purporting that the initiative has resulted in educational and developmental gains.
The pilot in Gurgaon with Qualcomm is based on three main components including the educational radio broadcast personalized to the community, access to the content via a 3G enabled platform and an in-school program which builds out from the radio broadcasts with additional learning materials.
According to Qulacomm, the Galli Galli Sim Sim show will initially be broadcast on Gurgaon Ki Awaaz Samudayik Radio Station to an estimated 30,000 listeners.
The use of 3G to tune in to the broadcast via cellphone will apparently be made available to populations residing in radio dark areas, with participating families receiving a mobile device with preloaded shortcuts. As well as offering access to the broadcast, the devices will also open portals to additional educational material including videos, songs, stories and other print materials.
The families will be trained in the use of their mobile phones and results of the usage and impact will be tracked, said Qualcomm.
The in-school program will be supported separately by HSBC, added the firm noting that thirty classrooms would be kitted out with mobile phones with speakers in order to allow the whole class to listen in on broadcasts before following up with extra print materials in class.
“3G wireless technologies offer new opportunities to dramatically improve learning, particularly among disadvantaged children,” said Shawn A. Covell, vice president for Qualcomm Government Affairs. “The Radiophone project is a powerful example of how 3G mobile phones and wireless connectivity can help bridge the digital divide and promote social inclusion in India and throughout the world,” he added.
