
Dost Education
Sends low-literacy parents short 'phonecast' calls to build early childhood learning at home
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.
































