Dr Sunita Gandhi, educationist, visionary and founder of Global Dream Programme, Global Classroom Private Limited (GCPL) & Global Education & Training Institute (GETI), has taken an initiative by launching the ‘One Word Literacy Challenge’ on International Women’s Day, and has invited volunteers from all sections of society to take up the challenge to make India 100% literate.

As part of this, volunteers will complete the one-hour Name Literacy Challenge where they will commit an hour to teach an illiterate learner (preferably female) to read and write her name.

After completing the challenge, volunteers are encouraged to sign-up for the 30-hour ‘Complete Literacy Challenge’ to make their learner completely literate and numerate at the foundational (Standard 3) level.

Dr Gandhi explains: “Literacy of women is vital to our country’s socio-economic development. Teaching them how to read and write would result in a huge social transformation. Empowering women and educating them translates to educating an entire generation. A well-learned woman also ensures there is literacy that runs in her family on the one hand and overall quality of human life on the other.”

Dr Gandhi also emphasizes on the important of starting with the name. She says: “Our first name is our identity, our signature, and knowing how to write can make an illiterate person immensely confident and full of self-esteem. We invite students, working and retired professionals, home-makers, corporates, civil society organisations and volunteers from all sections of society participate. You can change someone’s world with one word.”