Selected
Early Childhood Development

Dost Education

Tech-driven and peer-led support for parents to turn their homes into early learning environments

Team Leader
Sneha Sheth
Tech-driven and peer-led support for parents to turn their homes into early learning environments

The Problem

All parents want the best for their children. Yet for low-income, low-literate families, accessing early childhood support is difficult. In India alone, over 100 million mothers of preschoolers did not attend school themselves — but are determined to break the cycle of illiteracy.

The Solution

That's where Dost comes in. Dost is a parental support program that provides tips, activities, and encouragement to parents as they guide their child's development. Parents sign up easily by dialing a number, and start receiving daily, one-minute audio messages directly on their phones. These messages remind them of simple activities to do with their children to support their development, such as talking, singing, and playing.

In addition to these audio messages, moms can speak directly with a Dost coach—another parent who listens empathetically and offers guidance. Dost uses AI to personalize content recommendations and intelligently match the right coach to the right parent as fast as possible.

Stats

Dost Education has reached over one million children with accessible, tech-enabled early learning support.

What is the name of your organization?
Dost Education
What is the name of your solution?
Dost Education
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Tech-driven and peer-led support for parents to turn their homes into early learning environments
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Delhi
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
All parents want the best for their children. Yet for low-income, low-literate families, accessing early childhood support is difficult. In India alone, over 100 million mothers of preschoolers did not attend school themselves — but are determined to break the cycle of illiteracy.
What is your solution?
That's where Dost comes in. Dost is a parental support program that provides tips, activities, and encouragement to parents as they guide their child's development. Parents sign up easily by dialing a number, and start receiving daily, one-minute audio messages directly on their phones. These messages remind them of simple activities to do with their children to support their development, such as talking, singing, and playing. In addition to these audio messages, moms can speak directly with a Dost coach—another parent who listens empathetically and offers guidance. Dost uses AI to personalize content recommendations and intelligently match the right coach to the right parent as fast as possible.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Dost serves low-income families aspiring to upward mobility. Most parents have a 10th grade education or less and live on $2–10 a day, working as domestic helpers, drivers, factory workers, or seamstresses. They are deeply motivated to improve their children’s educational outcomes as a pathway out of poverty. Our solution builds parents’ confidence and capability to support early learning at home, strengthening responsive caregiving and language development during the most critical years. We maintain an inclusive feedback loop with families and frontline workers, speaking with 100 parent-users monthly to rapidly test and refine content. Parent-users have co-created the program since 2016. A peer network of “Champion” parents helps onboard new families, gather usage insights, and share weekly feedback that informs continuous design and our machine learning improvements.

Organization Type:
Nonprofit

Headquarters:
Delhi, India

Stage:
Scale

Working In:
India

Solution Website:
www.dosteducation.com

Solution Team:
Sneha Sheth
Sneha Sheth
Co-Founder and CEO
Sindhuja  Jeyabal
Sindhuja Jeyabal
Co-Founder and CTO