"Buddhu", "Slow", "Weak student", "Kaccha Nimbu".
We’ve all heard these words thrown around casually in classrooms and homes. Sometimes as jokes. Sometimes in frustration. But always, with a sting.
What may seem like harmless teasing in a child’s early years can quietly shape how they see themselves. It sticks. And when it’s repeated often enough, it becomes something they believe.
This year, P&G Shiksha’s latest initiative, #EraseTheLearningGap, zeroes in on the emotional weight of labels, one of the most detrimental manifestations of learning gaps, and the silent damage they inflict. The campaign spreads a powerful message: labels don’t define intelligence and learning gaps don’t define potential.
The learning gap crisis
Despite rising school enrolment across India, the foundation of learning remains dangerously weak. According to the ASER 2024 report, more than 50% of students in Grade 5 are unable to read a Grade 2-level text, and nearly 70% of students in Grade 5 are unable to do a numerical division problem. But behind these numbers lie some deep-rooted issues that extend far beyond academics.
As per a third-party survey, 38% adults recall facing learning gaps themselves during their school years. Yet, only 28% of adults have a complete understanding of what learning gaps actually are.
These gaps often show up in subtle, easily missed ways: confusion over basic concepts, reluctance to ask questions, declining motivation, and ultimately, harmful labels. For many children, the classroom becomes a space of quiet defeat. As P&G Shiksha puts it, “*50% kids in primary school feel like Kaccha Nimbus in class”.
*As per ASER 2024 report
How labels damage more than just feelings
“Words matter,” says Dr. Varkha Chulani, a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist. “Labels like ‘slow’ or ‘weak’ get internalized.” She explains how these words often become a part of a child’s identity, shaping how they see themselves and their abilities. Over time, children stop trying, not because they don’t want to succeed, but because they’ve been made to believe they can’t.
Infact, when you go a layer deeper, you'll realize that the labels “slow”, “weak” already have a colloquialized version in regional languages, making them a part of everyday languages. These local adaptations are known as “Doodh bhat”, “Paccha Kaya”, “Uppuku Chappa” and more.
Dr. Varkha stresses the importance of language in shaping self-worth. “Besides imagination and cognitive thinking, language must be used carefully,” she adds. “We must train parents to choose their words thoughtfully, because words can either break or build a child’s confidence.”
She also talks about ‘collateral learning’, the unspoken lesson a child absorbs when labelled repeatedly: I’m not good enough. I don’t belong. The impact of such labelling runs deep, often affecting a child’s self-esteem, behavior, classroom participation, and even long-term academic progress.
But there’s hope. With timely support and the right environment, children can bounce back. They don’t need pressure, they need allies. That’s where P&G Shiksha’s ecosystem of support plays a key role. Through trained volunteers and a structured remediation program that now reaches thousands of schools and communities, the initiative helps children rebuild their confidence, learn at their own pace, and most importantly, believe in their potential.
#EraseTheLearningGap: Turning labels into learning
As part of their ongoing commitment to educational equity, P&G Shiksha launched the film “Kaccha Nimbu” under #EraseTheLearningGap initiative to ensure large-scale awareness regarding learning gaps to urge collective action. The film is a deeply symbolic portrayal of how children internalize labels, often in silence.
Watch the film here:
The story follows Bikas, a child many of us will recognize, someone trying hard to cope but slowly slipping behind. He’s called names, underestimated, and slowly begins to believe the worst about himself. But the film further shows his transformation. When Bikas finally turns things around, the community collectively cheers him on. It’s a powerful reminder that every child learns at their own pace, and that with the right support and a safe learning environment, they can thrive.
The initiative was launched in Mumbai with a powerful on-ground activation called the Label Wall, a symbolic installation covered with commonly used negative labels like "Slow," "Weak," and "Kaccha Nimbu". During the event, actors Soha Ali Khan and Kalki Koechlin, both long-time advocates of education and mental health, joined the panel to share deeply personal stories around schooling, self-worth, and the lifelong impact of words. As the discussions concluded, the panelists came together to physically flip the labels on the wall, revealing positive affirmations underneath. This powerful gesture represented a crucial message that with the right support system and someone who truly sees and understands them, every child can overcome learning gaps and thrive at their own pace.
The Quint hosted an exclusive podcast featuring Abhishek Desai (VP, Brand Operations and Category Leader, Grooming, P&G India), Dr. Varkha Chulani, and Enakshee Deva (Head of CSR and Corporate Communications, P&G India), to explore how negative labels shape a child’s learning experience, why awareness around learning gaps remains shockingly low, and what P&G Shiksha is doing on the ground to address it.
Listen to it here:
20 years of P&G Shiksha
P&G Shiksha began in 2005 with the aim of providing access to education to underprivileged children. Since then, it has remained committed to a singular focus area – education. The initiative that began even before CSR law came into effect, has stayed congruent to the need of the nation. P&G Shiksha started as a program to build schools across the country and has today evolved into a holistic program that is working to improve foundational literacy and numeracy in children through targeted interventions focused on prevention and remediation of learning gaps and ensuring learning continuity. With this, the program seamlessly aligns with the National Education Policy as it continues to create a positive impact in underserved communities with over 50 lakh children being impacted.
P&G Shiksha’s Programs
Today, P&G Shiksha is focused on improving learning outcomes in children, through a dedicated three-pronged intervention approach:
· PREVENTION: via Early Childhood Education: During early childhood when brain development is at its highest point, nurturing appropriate developmental skills has been closely linked with positive outcomes, including improved school readiness, increased knowledge retention, and holistic growth of the child. To enable this, they partnered with Pratham Education Foundation for their Early Childhood Education program dedicated to children aged 3-6 years. This program focuses on developing motor, cognitive, social emotional, language and creative skills in children, thereby setting them up for a strong start as they begin their education journey. By leveraging various models partnering with states, ranging from in-school, Anganwadi-led, and a unique, first-of-its-kind model involving mothers as volunteers, the program leverages activity-based pedagogy. Last year, the program impacted over 8.8 Lakh children and 4.2 lakh mothers, across 5 states. 84% children reached age-appropriate developmental skills at the end, vs 50% at baseline.
· PREVENTION via enhancing Learning Environment: In line with the belief that strong infrastructural support at schools can help make the environment around children more conducive to learning and eliminate distractions. P&G Shiksha, together with its partners at Round Table India, undertakes educational infrastructure interventions like building classrooms. This helps improve the learning environment for children and teachers, and the impact is seen in increasing enrolments, better attendance, reducing dropouts, driving lesson efficiency for teachers, encouraging students, and therefore, overall higher learning level. Over the years, P&G Shiksha and Round Table India have constructed thousands of classrooms across the country, impacting lakhs of underserved children.
· REMEDIATION: via Community Learning: A unique community based and an ‘in-school’ model, in partnership with Pratham Education Foundation, comes to live with the support of trained volunteers from the community and school teachers. Here, they follow the ‘Teaching at the Right Level’ approach, where children in Grades 3 to 5 are grouped according to their learning levels rather than grade, and level-specific activity-based learning is delivered to help strengthen skills in foundational subjects of language and mathematics (in line with NEP). They are striving for sustained impact by bringing the community at the centre of interventions, taking responsibility, and playing their part. Last year, the program impacted over 45,000 children and more than 35,000 mothers, across 3 states in the country, where 80% children in grade 3-5 could now do basic arithmetic subtraction vs 37% at baseline.
· REMEDIATION: via Digital Remedial Learning: They are leveraging technology to bridge learning gaps, partnering with Educational Initiatives. They partner with state governments to set up digital labs, where P&G and EI implement ‘Mindspark’, a computer-based adaptive learning tool that leverages AI and ML to integrate pedagogy, teacher instruction and a learning management system to assess a student’s learning level and develop a customized learning path for each one of them. Gamified learning helps encourage students to keep learning in the privacy of their screen, removing barriers like mockery, lack of motivation and negative spotlight. Multi-device tool access ensures continued learning at home and during breaks. Through this initiative, they are also impacting over 20,000 children from Tribal communities of Maharashtra and Telangana, in partnership it the government offices. Collectively, last year, the program impacted nearly 1 lakh children across 6 states in the country, where 70% students progressed in their learning levels
· ENSURING LEARNING CONTINUITY: via P&G Shiksha Betiyan Scholarship- A unique program that offers financial assistance and mentorship to underserved girls pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, in partnership with Centre for Civil society. The program aims to support entry of skilled women professionals into manufacturing and production industries, by ensuring learning continuity for them.
P&G Shiksha’s efforts are aligned with the National Education Policy, focusing on foundational literacy and numeracy, to ensure that every child learns with conceptual understanding.
In line with this belief, P&G Shiksha partners with various government bodies, reputed NGOs and local communities, which help create a scalable and sustained impact. This fuels a lasting change and acts as a catalyst in achieving sustained positive educational outcomes.
Stories of hope
P&G Shiksha’s impact goes beyond classrooms and children. One such story is that of Lata Bhoye, a homemaker and adult learner from Bhoyepada, Vikramgad in Maharashtra, a region just 80 km from Mumbai, yet historically marked by low literacy rates.
Lata studied until Class 7 before getting married and settling into domestic life. For decades, education took a backseat. But that changed when P&G Shiksha, in partnership with Pratham Education Foundation, began working with mothers’ groups through its Early Childhood Education (ECE) program, to help her child, gain foundational literacy through an activity-based approach at home. Lata, initially hesitant to pursue her 10th-grade certification through Pratham Education Foundation’s `Second Chance’ program, reignited her passion for learning at 43 after encouragement from the coordinator. Despite challenges, she persevered and proudly passed her exams with a score of 56%, earning the respect and admiration of her entire village. Today, Lata works as her village’s ASHA worker, while continuing to support children’s clubs and mothers’ groups formed as part of the P&G Shiksha initiative.
Another inspiring story is of Anushka, a bright young girl from a small, remote village of Bedon, in Himachal Pradesh. The youngest of four siblings, she balanced school with household chores and working in the fields. Despite limited resources, her love for learning never wavered. In 2018, her life changed when she was introduced to P&G Shiksha’s digital remedial learning program, powered by the AI-based Mindspark tool. With this support, Anushka scored 75% in her 12th Boards and is now preparing for medical school, all while tutoring kids in her village. The program helped bridge her learning gaps and made studying interactive and fun. Inspired by her journey, her elder sister Shivani joined the same initiative as a lab-in-charge, mentoring other students.
Her story is a solid proof that with the right tools and support, every child can rise beyond the labels and unlock a brighter future.
Want to read more such real-life stories? Explore P&G Shiksha’s 20-year Coffee Table Book, filled with powerful journeys of change, resilience, and learning from across India.
Every child deserves a chance
Every child can learn, just not in the same way or at the same pace. And that’s okay.
As #EraseTheLearningGap continues to spark conversations and action across the country, it reminds us of something powerful: the potential in every child is intact. It just needs to be seen, supported, and nurtured. For those who’ve been left behind, misjudged, or misunderstood, the path forward begins with empathy and equal opportunity.
It’s time we all erase the labels, and start listening, supporting, and believing in the kids who need it most.