Rocket Learning and Google.org to Develop Saheli, an AI Buddy for Parents and Educators Delivering Early Learning

BusinessWire India

New Delhi [India], October 7: Announced at the 10th edition of Google for India, Rocket Learning is proud to share that it has received additional support from Google.org to launch a new Fellowship aimed at developing a personalized AI tutor for parents and educators of underserved children, designed to make early childhood education interactive and tailored to each child’s understanding and pace. Support from Google.org will help catalyze Rocket Learning’s mission of supporting government systems to improve the IQ of India’s next generation, by deploying a team of Google.org Fellows who will work full-time, pro bono for six months to develop Saheli, an AI-powered study buddy that will be delivered as a web application. Saheli can adapt to each child’s unique needs, creating personalized and engaging educational experiences to spark a lifelong love of learning. The tool will deliver unique and impactful learning experiences for young children from three to six years of age, with the objective of adoption across the country for children in government-run Anganwadis and pre-schools.

Rocket Learning was the second ever Indian recipient of Google.org’s Fellowship support. The $1.5M Google.org grant awarded to Rocket Learning as part of the AI for Global Goals Impact Challenge has already enabled Rocket Learning to develop an AI/ML system that automatically grades over 50,000 homework images daily with 90% accuracy, increasing engagement and learning personalization for 3 million children across 10 states in India.

Now expanding to ten states in India, the system is impacting 3 million children, with a goal of reaching 50 million in five years. Notably, 80% of children in the program achieve school and life readiness by age 6.

“We’re thrilled to receive funding and pro bono support from Google.org to enable all children in India to reach their fullest potential and boost their collective IQ,” said Vishal Sunil, CTO and Co-founder at Rocket Learning. “With the support of the Fellows, we are eager to deepen our understanding of personalized learning’s impact and are committed to making quality early education accessible to every child.”

With 40 million children in India needing quality preschool education, Rocket Learning aims to ensure that every child is ready for school and life. During the critical early years, from birth to age 6, children are rapidly developing their brains, with 85% of brain development occurring by age 6. By leveraging technology to empower caregivers–parents and educators–Rocket Learning helps foster early stimulation and holistic development for each child.

“Rocket Learning’s audacious vision is to offer this technology open source as a state-of-the-art Gen AI use case for government systems to adopt as part of Digital India. Parents and educators are hungry for an AI buddy to help them help their children, and India can become a global leader in fulfilling this need,” said Namya Mahajan, Co-Founder of Rocket Learning.