Sindhuja Jeyabal

Dost Education

Dost Education addresses a specific gap: India has roughly 150 million women with low literacy who cannot rely on written parenting materials to support their children's early development. Its solution is 'phonecasts' — short, recurring voice calls delivered directly to a phone, built around the 'Talk, Care, Play' framework of responsive caregiving, covering cognitive and socio-emotional development for children aged 0-6. Because the content is audio-first, it reaches parents regardless of reading ability or smartphone access. Dost was founded in 2015 by Sneha Sheth and Sindhuja Jeyabal, who met on a Berkeley campus, and now operates across Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in partnership with state governments and community organisations. The organisation reports its phonecasts have reached over 450,000 homes.

Dost Education reports the following, on its own site:

• Phonecasts have entered over 450,000 homes