Award-Winning Technology

Pehla Apps is a suite of educational apps that empower children ages 3-10 to improve reading, writing, and math skills.

Digital Learning

Our Mission

Our mission is to improve global education through technology. Pehla Apps, created by MAQ Software, seeks to reach the 250 million underserved schoolchildren in India. According to the ASER 2018 report, although over 95% of children in India are enrolled in school, many students face significant learning gaps. Only a quarter of Indian schoolchildren ages 8-9 can read and do math at grade level.

With low-cost internet access and advances in hardware and software, learning apps provide an opportunity to improve learning outcomes worldwide. For example, Google showcased the power of new technology by using advances in natural language processing (NLP) for speech recognition in its free Read Along with Google application. Read Along with Google improves literacy skills in Hindi, Bangla, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, and English and has been downloaded more than five million times from Google Play.

Our main goal was to make education engaging. Pehla Apps, based on the award-winning software developed through the Global Learning XPRIZE, is a suite of free learning apps localized to the Indian subcontinent. We optimized the open-source learning apps for global implementation. As Android advances text-to-speech technology, we will continue to adapt Pehla Apps to operate on new versions of Android-based software and hardware.

By supplementing existing digital tools, Pehla Apps enables Indian school systems and non-profits to dramatically improve learning outcomes.

About the Global Learning XPRIZE

In 2014, Elon Musk funded the $15 million Global Learning XPRIZE, which challenged participants to develop education technology for the quarter billion children around the globe who cannot read, write, or do math. Out of the initial pool of nearly 200 applicants, XPRIZE selected five finalists (Kitkit School, onebillion, Chimple, CCI, RoboTutor) to receive $1 million each. In 2019, the XPRIZE foundation announced two co-winners: Kitkit School and onebillion.

In field testing, the apps generated remarkable learning outcomes. For example, students who used Kitkit School showed an average reading test improvement of 30–45% and an average math test improvement of 14–37%. Students who did not use the app showed little-to-no change in their test scores.

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Our apps are based on award-winning software that produces powerful, proven learning results.