In India, more than 6 crore children struggle to keep up with the learning pace in classrooms.
This creates what is known as a ‘learning gap’.
To raise awareness about this, and to make this invisible gap visible, P&G Shiksha is highlighting Bindiya’s story through a powerful new campaign, launched recently. The campaign shows how Bindiya, a young girl, was impacted by learning gaps and how she came to be known as the ‘hiding girl’ because she was afraid to face her teachers.
It further shows the ways in which invisible gaps manifest in children, who perpetually try to cope, and without the right support system drop out of school or face challenges in subsequent phases of life.
Bindiya’s emotional story compelled a myriad of popular brands to step forward to support P&G Shiksha in this cause, by changing their logos to show a picture of Bindiya hiding. The ‘hiding’ gesture represents a symptom students impacted by learning gaps exhibit.
The brands that joined forces include Vicks, Apollo Pharmacy, Pampers, Pantene, Oral-B, Ambi Pur, ZzzQuil India, Herbal Essences, Olay, Hero Lectro E-cycles, Swiggy Instamart, Amazon India, and Sunstone.
Why do we need to address learning gaps?
One missed class or one difficult concept can affect a child’s fundamental understanding of a particular subject.
This becomes an alarming cause for concern, because their current learning levels don’t align with the expected learning levels as per the defined curriculum.
Most people misunderstand children as being ‘naughty’ or ‘inattentive’, but lack of awareness around the reason ‘why’, leads to higher dropout rates and a sense of dissatisfaction at a later stage in life. Through Bindiya’s story, P&G Shiksha aims to address this issue and make invisible gaps visible in a hard-hitting way.
What did P&G Shiksha do about it?
P&G Shiksha set out to make the invisible gap visible with 3 steps:
Firstly, they drove awareness. They showcased the different ways in which the symptoms manifest themselves in the form of excuses to miss school, lack of participation, and shortened attention spans.
Secondly, they took action. Through on-ground interventions and technology-based remedial learning in association with several NGOs over the years, they intended to make a genuine impact.
Thirdly, collective action. They created an assessment test that can identify learning gaps, and encouraged the audience to locate any children around them who may also be struggling.
Why Bindya’s story strikes an emotional chord
This brilliant film highlights P&G Shiksha’s efforts in taking urgent and meaningful action and ensuring every child is equipped with the ability to build a stable future for themselves.
Bindiya’s story strives to convey to the audience that every child possesses potential, but sometimes they just need a little help in recognizing and fulfilling it.
When brands come together, the impact is significant
With notable brands showing their support, P&G Shiksha’s objective to provide underprivileged children with access to education was greatly amplified.
The campaign was heart-warming, eye-opening, and a true embodiment of ‘unity in diversity’.
