DEVI Sansthan (Dignity Education Vision International), a non-profit organization with a global reach, is enabling large scale educational transformation by working with governments and other stakeholders. DEVI’s revolutionary approach embeds global citizenship skills and climate change education, with a focus on foundational literacy. With the vision of universal literacy, the organisation uses research-backed, swift, scalable, and replicable techniques and methodologies to catalyse a paradigm shift in education.

DEVI implements rigorous FLN research, using randomized control trials to compare and analyse the efficacy of various literacy programs. Our research has been covered in a recent book by Harvard Graduate School of Education. We also conducted a large-scale survey of Lucknow district in 2015, measuring the literacy of 1.5 million people, which culminated in two peer reviewed journal articles.

Before Covid, only 43% of 10-year-olds in Low and Middle Income Countries could read – since then, it has plunged further to 30%. The conventional education system is unable to achieve universal literacy within a reasonable timeframe. Over 22 years of endeavor and 8 years of active research, a revolutionary Accelerating Learning for All (ALfA) approach was developed, that is challenging the status quo by enabling learners to become FLN capable in just 45 working days, compared to the traditional 3-5 years. ALfA uses a known-to-unknown approach which bypasses the need to learn the alphabet, and unlocks the power of paired learning. ALfA programs are being taken up by schools at all levels, nationally and internationally, and is spreading rapidly since its launch in 2022. DEVI Sansthan also advocates for research-based, system-wide reforms.

The enthusiasm and idealism of youth is a tremendous resource if harnessed towards service. Since the launch of our Each One Tech One campaign in 2014, student volunteers have been at the forefront of efforts to reach disadvantaged communities. Nearly 500,000 student volunteers have taught illiterate learners using our FLN toolkits.

Globally, the number of illiterate adults has not changed much: still some 770 million adults cannot read, and two-thirds of these are women. DEVI is working for adult literacy, with a particular focus on adolescent girls and women, by helping mobilise people’s movements. In projects ranging from Literacy Chicago, USA, to villages of India, DEVI’s disruptive approach to literacy for adults, has enabled thousands to learn to read in record time, since its launch in 2014.

DEVI runs highly interactive training workshops for teachers, empowering them with ready-to-implement resources and classroom strategies. In 2023 we launched the Massive Open Online Training series, which has been warmly received with 30,000 views thus far from over 50 countries. 93% of participants found the training to be effective, with 99% saying they had take-away points.

DEVI partners with governments, NGOs, schools, and institutions worldwide to implement swift and effective literacy programs. Within India, our partners include district governments of Shamli (UP) and Sambalpur (Odisha), state-level education ministries in UP and Mizoram, and numerous NGO partners. Internationally, DEVI is collaborating with diverse stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education, Maldives; Literacy Chicago, USA; the All Africa Students Union and many more. DEVI also organises forums, such as the Synergy Summits, Policymakers Conclave, EdLeadership Conference and the Disruptive Talks for Literacy, which enable educational thinkers and practitioners to discuss disruptive approaches to large-scale educational transformation.

DEVI’s groundbreaking FLN work has been covered by a number of newspapers, magazines and news channels. A selection of local, national and international coverage is shared here.

Dr Sunita Gandhi, an Indian educator, researcher and author, is CEO of Dignity Education Vision International (DEVI Sansthan), and Chief Academic Advisor of her family-run City Montessori School, the world’s largest school, and a recipient of the UNESCO Peace Prize. A PhD in Physics from Cambridge University, UK, Dr. Gandhi served as an Economist at the World Bank. Her recognitions include India's Educationist of the Year 2014, Visionary of Uttar Pradesh 2017, and Shining World Caring Award, Taiwan, 2020.