Elon Musk Is Putting Up $15 To Fight Global Illiteracy

Elon Musk is giving away $15 million for global literacy.

It’s for entrepreneurs to develop software that allows children in poverty to teach themselves reading, writing and math all in just 15 months. It’s called the Global Learning XPRIZE — one of XPRISE Foundation’s many contests. Five finalists get $1 million each and the grand prize winner gets $10 million.

XPRISE announced the five finalists in September 2017 — “CCI” from the U.S., “Chimple” from India, “KitKit School” from the U.S., “One Billion” from the UK and “Robotutor” from the U.S.

According to XPRISE, 250 million kids around the world don’t have basic skills in reading, writing and math. Many of these kids don’t have access to quality schooling. As stated on the Global Learning XPRISE website, “While programs exist to build schools and train teachers, traditional models of education are not able to scale fast enough to meet demand. We simply cannot build enough schools or train enough teachers to meet the need. We are at a pivotal moment where an alternative, radical approach is necessary.  We need an approach that will eliminate the existing barriers to a quality learning experience, where the seeds of innovation can be imparted to every child, regardless of location or economic status.”

Musk has been funding the Global Learning XPRISE. The winner will be announced in April 2019.