I Love Reading! (ILR) is an innovative reading and school transformations program that Katha runs in government schools. It aims to improve the effectiveness of primary education in the government school system, especially reading skills for children using Story Pedagogy©. Addressing one of the pressing issues of declining reading levels and learning outcomes across states in India, Katha has developed a robust reading technology which uses story books and activity modules to help children learn standard national curriculum. ILR is based on Katha’s proven education and teacher training methods that have been developed, tested and refined over the last 30 years. With the launch of free online repository www.padhopyarse.net and IT training to teachers on utilizing e-resources has facilitated easy access to a wealth of creative, ready- to-use Hindi language teaching-learning materials based on Katha’s innovative pedagogy and other sources.

 

At Katha they believe that if children enjoy reading, they will do well and stay in school longer, enabling them to become inspiring reader-leaders. The entire program is premised on the tenet that a child “learns to read and reads to learn” as simultaneous activities and not disparate ones. Over the last 12 years, ILR has scaled into many states and has delivered proven results and outcomes. We have successfully replicated this program in 700 government schools of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujrat, impacting over 2.5 lakh children. Over the years, the I Love Reading model has achieved grade level reading competency among children largely at bottom of the learning pyramid. With 98% retention and 88% attendance rate. 100% of the most “reading challenged” children improved their reading skills. More than 70% children achieve grade level reading proficiency after 3 years of intervention. A comparative study in 2019-20 has shown better performance of I Love Reading children than overall in Delhi in subjects Hindi, Environmental Science and Mathematics. There is an at least 8-12 mean points difference in scores achieved by ILR schools’ students as compared to other government schools.

• It is a low cost program with an easy replicable model
• It is high impact program with evidence based measurable improvement in the learning outcomes of the children
• The program can cater to large number of beneficiaries with gender inclusiveness
• The project directly contributes to the National Education Policy 2020 goals.

Oracle, HCL Foundation, Bata India Limited and National Stock Exchange (NSE) Foundation British Asian Trust, Tata Communications Limited, Millennium Alliance, Comic Relief, Australian High Commission South Delhi Municipal Corporation, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Government of Gujrat, Government of Rajasthan, Government of Haryana, Government Uttar Pradesh