Global Learning XPRIZE: Bringing Literacy To Millions Of Kids With Open Source

Jono Bacon | Open Source Delivers | September 24, 2014

This week we are launching the Global Learning XPRIZE complete with Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.  This is a $15 million competition in which teams are challenged to create open source software that will teach a child to read, write, and perform arithmetic in 18 months without the aid of a teacher. This is not designed to replace teachers but to instead provide an educational solution where little or none exists.

There are 57 million children aged 5 – 12 in the world today who have no access to education. There are 250 million children below basic literacy levels, even after several years of school. You may think the solution to this is to build more schools, but we would need an extra 1.6 million teachers by next year to provide universal primary education.  This is a tragedy.

This new XPRIZE is designed to help fix this.  Every child should have a right to the core ingredient that is literacy. It unlocks their potential and opens up opportunity...