School pupils in India are scaling new heights through an online course – guided by a digital Monkey – developed by a Glasgow-based English language tech specialist.
Klik2learn has teamed up with international charity Go Dharmic to deliver a digital learning programme to Ratanpur Middle School, Gandhinagar, the capital of the state of Gujarat.
The project provides school teachers and 50 children with licences for Klik2Learn’s Digital Learning Hub, with the full course, ‘Journey 2 Basic Skills’, developing basic English language, literacy and numeracy skills.
Acting as a friendly guide, the monkey shows the children how to access and use the programme – making it fun and simple for them to learn on their mobile phone or tablets.
The lockdown in India, brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, prevented children from attending school for over one year.
Go Dharmic, which aims to bring people together to create positive social change in their lives and their communities, was keen to find a solution for this and partnered with Klik2Learn.
Go Dharmic’s project lead, Deependra Bhadourja, and his team will visit the school in coming weeks for proper orientation and updates of the programme with teachers and students.
Ann Attridge, chief executive of Klik2learn, said: “Before Journey 2 English, no-one had attempted to teach complete beginners to read, write and understand english via a mobile phone. We wanted to reach the widest global audience possible so our approach had to be creative – translation was out of the question. Go Dharmic are our ideal partner- supplying that crucial local knowledge, relationships and sharing our vision to improve lives through education.”
Hanuman Dass, founderand chariman of Go Dharmi, added: “The schools have been closed for over a year, and young children have been impacted greatly. This online intervention and partnership with Kilk2learn will enable access to online learning and teach children valuable skills that they would not otherwise access. Therefore, we look forward to reaching as many children as possible and ensure learning never stops”.
Klik2learn’s award-winning course “puts teachers at the heart of the solution” and uses graphics, animation and games to engage learners.
The children have been asked to name the monkey and have come up with a list. The new name will be announced when all the children complete 50 per cent of the course.