The 2009 Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence Winners

Social Strategy—Gold:
JWT, Mumbai
"Teach India: When Over Two Million Unlettered Indian Kids Said 'Jai Ho'"

This case study is about transforming the lives of disadvantaged Indian children through education. It is perhaps the largest such program in history; a shining example of how a volunteer movement, created for a newspaper, aims to eradicate illiteracy.

India is home to one in three illiterates worldwide. 75 million are children.

Paradoxically, this country also has the 3rd largest population of college graduates.

The Teach India initiative sought to build a bridge across this chasm, through volunteer action.

Despite worshiping knowledge, despite enjoying better lives as a resultant of higher education, middle class India has shied away from large scale volunteerism to teach.

This wasn't apathy; they hesitated due to a complex mix of physical & emotional impediments.

The initiative, indeed every element, addressed these factors. Working together, they demolished every barrier which existed, either on ground or in the mind.

Our clarion call was Let's Learn to Teach.

We delivered this message through an integrated campaign.

At the last count, we had begun transforming the lives of over two million children through the over 100,000 volunteer teachers.

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