Delhi (India), March 9, 2023: Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently shared a heartening story of an organization in India that is providing education to historically marginalized girls between the ages of 10 and 18 through audio-based learning tools and lessons.
SwaTaleem, co-founded by Ananya Tiwari, is committed to helping women across India access education and technology, overcome language barriers, and achieve financial freedom. Google has recognized the organization’s outstanding work and its impact on the lives of girls and women in India.
Thanks to SwaTaleem’s innovative approach, an internet connection is not required to play the educational audio files. Girls can engage with the content through an interactive voice response system over a phone line, and they can also put their phones on speaker so that members of their families can benefit from the lessons too. The educational content covers a range of topics, from foundational science to financial literacy.
Early challenges faced by the organization included the need to translate feedback collected from students in different dialects and languages across the country. To overcome this, SwaTaleem partnered with Google to pilot a natural language processing tool that allowed the team to take voice recordings and create automated translations.
This technology will enable the organization to spend less time on data collection and translation and more time fostering relationships with the young women they serve as they continue to scale the project.
SwaTaleem has helped nearly a thousand young women so far and continues to make significant strides toward empowering girls and women in India.
Google’s Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, a $25 million commitment to fund organizations around the world working towards helping girls and women, has inspired the work of SwaTaleem and continues to support similar organizations worldwide.
