How technology can improve equitable access to education

Access to a quality education is important in every country. But, in India, it was a particular challenge with 260m school students speaking 1,700 languages. Using technology, the Government of India took an innovative approach to its education delivery to reduce the prevalence of learning poverty.

In this episode, presenter and reporter Kait Borsay explores how the Government of India created the world’s largest digital education platform, DIKSHA, to solve its unique challenge. Her guests are:

• Dr. Amarendra Behera, Joint Director, Central Institute of Education & Technology, National Council of Education Research and Training in the Ministry of Education, Government of India
• Shabnam Sinha, Lead Education Specialist at the World Bank in India
• Shankar Maruwada, Co-founder and CEO at EkStep Foundation in Bangalore

The conversation explores how the platform has enabled student learning and teacher training in 30 languages by providing access to education materials through a portal, mobile app, radio and television, while also collecting 1.1b learning outcomes through assessments.

The DIKSHA initiative has been so successful, the World Bank is seeking to embed the digital public good in a number of African countries to help them meet their education goals.

Key takeaways:

• By deploying technology, the Government of India has increased access to quality education for students and teachers, improving learning poverty among school children.
• DISKSHA hosts 300,000 pieces of educational content in 30 languages, facilitating learning using digital technology, radio and TV.
• As a digital public good, DIKSHA can be leveraged by other countries to help deliver an equitable education for all.

The series is also available to listen to on Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon Music and Podbean.

If you’d like to read more, a full text transcript of this podcast is available. Read the transcript.