More than one crore children enrolled in around 1.13 lakh primary schools in Uttar Pradesh will now be able to improve their pronunciation in both Hindi and English, by using Google's 'Bolo' app.
The free app was launched in India in March 2019 and uses Google's speech recognition and text-to-speech technology.
It features an animated character, 'Diya', who encourages children to read stories aloud and helps if the child is unable to pronounce a word.
It also lauds the reader when he/she completes the reading.
State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT) Director Sanjay Sinha said that the app is designed for primary grade children, aged between six and 11 years.
"'Bolo' helps improve both their English and Hindi reading skills, by encouraging them to read aloud. The app also gives instant feedback," he said.
'Bolo' is actually a read-along app or a speech-based, reading-tutor app for Android-based smartphones. It can be downloaded for free from Google's Play Store.
Sinha further said that the app will also help teachers wherever they are in doubt about the pronunciation of a Hindi or English word.
For its introduction in government primary schools, the Samgra Shiksha Abhiyan project officials have entered into an agreement with Google and parents of these children who have smartphones, have also been trained by teachers to use the app at home to help children.
According to state resource group (SRG) member, Sunil Tiwari, as part of efforts to implement 'Mission Prerna' - the flagship programme of the state government to improve quality of education in schools running under the Basic Shiksha Department, members of the SRG, key resource persons (KRPs) and academic resource persons (ARPs) are giving online training to around 5.5 lakh primary school teachers of the state including assistant teachers, Shiksha Mitras and subject instructors, on using Google Bolo effectively.
The app can also work offline and does not require an active Internet connection, he said.
