Revolutionizing Learning with ALfA

In 2022, as schools reopened post-pandemic, teacher Ugrasen Verma from Composite School, Srinagar, turned to DEVI Sansthan’s ALfA pedagogy to rebuild his students’ learning and confidence. When printing materials became costly, Dr. Sunita Gandhi generously provided free books for every child. Inspired by the impact, his colleague Varun Sharma also adopted ALfA, spreading meaningfull learning across the school. In 2025, Ugrasen once again received Dr. Gandhi’s support proving that with dedication and the right approach, no child is ever left behind.

Everyone considered Jainab incapable and believed would never learn to read. She lives by the side of the railway tracks. Her parents tried sending her to many different tutors. Jainab had a habit of forgetting and guessing answers instead of studying, which often led to mistakes. Finally, the teachers understood her problem during the teaching process. They repeatedly encouraged her to try reading and not to guess the answers. Gradually, Jainab overcame her habit and began to read. It took her five months, but in the end, she learned to read. Those teachers are truly the best who can understand the difficulties a student faces while learning. Then, success is assured.

Anas lives in Daliganj. He is 12 years old and has five sisters. His father, Sabbir, sells fruit from a cart. Due to their poor financial situation, Anas couldn't go to school. However, he learned to read through DEVI's program. It took him a year, but now has become literate.

Noor Bano is a 13-year-old girl whose dad makes and sells brooms for a living. Noor Bano studies at school but didn’t learn to read well there. She struggled to take time out from housework to study. But now whenever she gets free time, she comes and studies. Her reading has improved a lot now. Even her schoolteacher was shocked with the pace Noor learned to read, which made everyone proud of her

Mohini, didn’t know how to read at all when she started coming to the class She is a young woman of 18, who is already married. Her husband does drugs, and used to beat her a lot. Her husband also didn’t approve of her studying initially, and used to take her away from class. She was a slow learner, struggled to remember things. But now she has finally learnt to read, which is a matter of great joy for everyone around her. She is now working as a domestic help in others’ houses, so has become a bit more independent and can manage the household finances

Without a father and a working mother, Famina was already busy in doing household chores and not giving her studies the priority, even after joining the class she was unable to attend the classes because of the responsibilities of her younger siblings also. But with the constant support of her mother and also the support of her neighbours in looking after her siblings, Famina now attends the classes and doing well in reading. She also teach her younger siblings at home.

A 10 year boy Aziz, living in the slums of Daliganj bridge. After the death of his father, his mother was the supporting the family. When Aziz first joined the class he struggled in reading and studying because earlier to this he was the helping her mother financially but after coming in the DEVI class for over a year, he is now finally reading well, his dream of becoming a police is finally coming closer to reality.

Responsibilities held her hands at the minor age of eight, when a child is free of all the responsibilities and stress she took everything on her shoulders when her father struggles with addiction and mother tirelessly worked as a domestic help. Even after all the hardships, she was determined to learn and become a teacher. When she first joined the ALfA program she struggled in basics, after a year of hard work, she finally spoke her first full sentence, that day everyone got a new sunshine of motivation. Afreen didn’t just learn to read but found a purpose in her life.

There is a saying, "A small family is a happy family," but this is not true for Aysha, a 10-year-old girl. There are four members in her family, including a brother. Her father's name is Munna, and he is heavily addicted to drugs, which has seriously affected his health. Due to this, Aysha was unable to study. However, she learned to read through our program. Now, she has become literate.

A 12 year old without her father and a working mother, Famina when joined DEVI classes she was very irregular and struggled in every class because of the household chores she has to manage and also to look after her younger siblings. But because of her determination and the passion to learn and also with the constant support of the family she worked harder to manage everything, she is now attending the classes regularly and shining like a bright sunshine.

When the importance is known to the people it becomes not needed, same happened with Areeba when her parents thought that education is not a need. When Areeba first joined DEVI learning classes she couldn't read a single word written on the paper, but soon enough she started reading. Today, her mother is inspired by her daughter’s progress and even sends her to tuition for studies, her dream of becoming a teacher is coming closer to her everyday.

Samaira and Naziya, two girls from Jawaharnagar who lived with their aunt who made them do all the household chores and refused to let them study for her convenience. After persistent efforts of the DEVI team she finally agreed and they both started coming to the class. After 45 days, they started reading the words , Samaira confidently read the prices of the materials and no shopkeeper could charge them more than the written price. Their aunt now knows the power of literacy when their nieces can do all the bank work which once was a difficult task for them.

Zikra - a girl from Jawaharnagar living with her grandmother and helping her out in household chores, and never dreamt of studies. Once she hesitantly joined DEVI’s learning camp and soon enough started enjoying it, especially Maths. Breaking all the stereotypes she excelled in Maths and other sports. 6 months later, she got enrolled in Class 5 at Jawaharnagar Government School, where she is thriving. Zikra’s story tells us that every child can thrive if given the opportunity of education.

Sufia, 40, doubted that she would ever be able to learn to read at her age. We encouraged her to get through the struggle of the first few lessons, which was compounded by the embarrassment of others watching on. As it turned out, Sufia was one of our fastest learners ever – she went from unable to recognize letters, to reading sentences fluently in just one month. At the next parent-teacher meeting the teacher offered her an inkpad to make a thumb impression, but Sufia reached instead for a pen, with a big smile on her face!

The first students to become literate using DEVI Sansthan’s program were three cousins. Each one of them had their own struggles with school, which had kept them from literacy. Inama was a diligent student but found it difficult to rote memorize the letters. Heena was a quick learner but spent most of the day doing domestic chores, and thus had little time for study. Meanwhile Muskan suffered from a liver ailment which kept her from attending school. Despite these difficulties, each of the three girls learnt to read in just 1 to 2 months. Their efforts showed us from the beginning that the dream of literacy for all is really possible.

Rehana is a 7 year old girl from a very poor family. They’ve seen great misfortune in their lives, and rarely gets the attention she needs, so she often skips school and has terrible behaviour. However, when we started the literacy program with her, her attention was focused, even though she could only recognize two letters at first. Since then, her focus has been amazing – though it took her three lessons to understand how to join letters together, today she is reading fluently.

Shania, 9, was not enrolled in school when we first met her. Her father often drank, so family finances were tight. Shaniya’s mother also doubted her ability to learn well in school. But Shaniya learnt to read swiftly using DEVI Sansthan’s literacy materials – just a daily 15 minute session several times a week over 3 months. Impressed with this improvement, Shania’s mother enrolled her in the local school. Five years on (at the time of writing) Shania is now a confident young woman in Grade 8.