Tech company Google launched the beta version of its app ‘Bolo’ here on Wednesday. The learning app has been launched in India before any other market, and is optimised for native Hindi speakers. The app aims to help teach children reading using speech recognition and text-to-speech technology.
The app seeks to help children read with the aid of a virtual tutor. The reading material, stories sourced from Storyweaver, are available for free.
According to ASER Centre, an autonomous survey unit, of all students studying in the fifth grade in rural India, only 50 per cent can confidently read a textbook for grade two. Google and the ASER Centre conducted a pilot study with children using the app in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh and claimed that 92 per cent parents found improvement in their child’s reading skills after using the app.
“We have been piloting Bolo in 200 villages, and the early results are very encouraging. We are now actively working with a number of non-profit partners to take it to more people across the country, who could benefit from it,” said Nitin Kashyap, Product Manager, Google India.
Kashyap also told BusinessLine that in the future, the company could consider working on a lite version of the app having a small initial size.
Google will work with four partner organisations — Pratham Education Foundation, Room to Read, Saajha and Kaivalya Education Foundation, a Piramal Initiative — to take the app to more users.