REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
Data Collection for Foundational Reading Tool in Gujarat Closing Date for Submission
<June 25th, 2025>
1.INTRODUCTION
Wadhwani AI is the flagship Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative of LEHS, a charitable organization dedicated to building equitable and sustainable systems that bring modern technology to underserved populations in India. Our core mission is to develop, deploy, and rigorously evaluate AI-powered solutions for social impact across domains, including healthcare, agriculture, governance, and education.
In alignment with our objective to support projects of national and social significance, Wadhwani AI promotes the integration of cutting-edge technologies like AI into the Indian mainstream systems. We execute this through strategic partnerships with State and National Governments, apex institutions, international agencies, and key ecosystem contributors.
This Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued by Wadhwani AI, under the umbrella of LEHS, to identify a dedicated partner to execute a large-scale English voice data collection project required for developing and contextualizing a Foundational Reading Tool in English for the state of Gujarat.
2.BACKGROUND
A significant number of students in Indian public schools (Grades 1–8) lack foundational reading skills, impacting their academic progress across all subjects. This challenge is compounded by the absence of scalable, data-driven tools for assessing reading in diverse languages and for identifying specific proficiency levels to enable targeted interventions.
In response, Wadhwani AI has developed and successfully deployed an AI-powered tool for Reading Assessment and Remediation designed to help teachers achieve universal attainment of foundational reading skills.
1.The tool leverages highly contextualized and fine-tuned Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) models to analyze word and paragraph reading in different languages.
To date, Wadhwani AI has successfully assessed over 8 million students in two major states - Gujarat and Rajasthan, with this tool.
Wadhwani AI is now expanding the scope of its work in Gujarat to include assessments in English. We require an experienced partner to collect the necessary voice data to train the ASR models for the state's specific linguistic context.
3.PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The primary objective is to execute a rigorous, large-scale data collection program to collect voice data of students, reading different texts, in English for Grades (5-8) from the state of Gujarat. This activity will also include the collection of reference audios from teachers to assist with annotation activities. This collected voice data will be used to train and contextualize the Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) models employed in the Foundational Reading Tool.
Language: English
4.SCOPE OF WORK
Summary of Activities
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S.No
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Activity Description
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Timelines
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1
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Data Collection: students' reading of textual items
(letters/words/non-words/paragraphs) in English for
Grades 5-8; as well as reference audios from teachers
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30th June 2026 -
31st July 2026
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Submission Details
All proposals to this RFP must be received no later than <June 25th, 2026>. The proposal should be submitted only through e-mail in PDF format addressed to the Procurement Team at: rfp.lehs@wadhwaniai.org. The email's subject line must contain the reference number and title of the RFP: Data Collection for Foundational Reading Tool in Gujarat(Name of Partner)
Any proposals received by Wadhwani-AI after the deadline prescribed in the timeline of this document are liable to be rejected.
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.