Pehlay Akshar has partnered with the Hingna Panchayat Samiti and the Nagpur Panchayat Samiti in Nagpur to help students continue learning through their “A Story A Day” initiative as schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pehlay Akshar Foundation, is an NGO founded by Ms. Radha Goenka the Director of RPG Foundation. Pehlay Akshar focusses on improving learning outcomes for students in government schools by developing safe learning spaces and peer networks for teachers across primary and upper primary government schools in India.
The purpose of ‘A Story A Day’ is to share one simple English story with students every day. Listening to such stories will not only improve English skills but also give the children an opportunity to continue learning irrespective of the circumstances.
It involves a simple process wherein a volunteer selects a story either from their personal collection or from the free digital resources available on the website (www.astoryaday.in). They can then read, record and upload the story on the form/link provided on the platform. Once received, the Pehlay Akshar Team posts the story within 24 hours on their digital platforms.
Currently, the foundation has a bank of 200 stories read by their volunteers with a goal to reach 1000 stories by September 2020. They also aim to share these stories with nearly 1.5 lakh children in Maharashtra. Along with having a dedicated Facebook and YouTube channel, Pehlay Akshar also plans to partner with regional radio and television channels to disseminate these stories with an aim to reach out to more children and get more contributors.
Mrs. Radha Goenka, Director, RPG Foundation; Founder Pehlay Akshar, said, “We are pleased to have partnered with the Hingna Panchayat Samiti and the Nagpur Panchayat Samiti in Nagpur for this initiative. As a company, RPG/CEAT has always believed in helping others, especially children who are responsible for building a better future for our country. Helping students continue learning during the lockdown is a small gesture of us giving back to the larger community. We are also working on partnering with various other states to help as many children as we can.”
Contributors/readers include film actor Sonakshi Sinha, Indian Cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Ajinkya Rahane and Mayank Agarwal. Sonakshi Sinha has graciously supported Pehlay Akshar’s programs in the past and has even interacted with their students on Children’s Day last year. While she supported the initiative by narrating the story – the New Girl, Ajinkya Rahane narrated – Timmy and Pepe to the students, Sunil Gavaskar narrated – Chaku’s cycle and Mayank Agarwal – Story of letter B.
About RPG Foundation
RPG Foundation gears and drives the CSR initiatives of RPG Group’s companies, which include CEAT, KEC, Raychem, Zensar, RPG Life Sciences and others.
About RPG Enterprises (www.rpggroup.com):
RPG Enterprises, established in 1979, is one of India’s fastest-growing business groups with a turnover of US$ 4 Billion. The group has diverse business interests in the areas of Infrastructure, Tyres, Pharma, IT and Specialty as well as in emerging innovation led technology businesses.
