Pratham, the 2010 Kravis Prize winner, is world-renowned for its programs that tackle the major issues in India’s education system. In the Huffington Post, blogger and author C.M. Rubin discussed the potential parallels between the state of education in the United States and India, including the educational readiness of children from poor and low-income families. Dr. Madhav Chavan, Pratham CEO and co-Founder, shared his thoughts with Rubin on what India and the U.S. might learn from each other’s education systems:
“On the face of it, the two systems are at least a century apart and may have nothing to learn from each other. Indian educators would need to look at how the US schools evolved over the last two centuries, and the US counterparts may want to look at how similar the root causes of poor learning are in schools where children of the poor go. I have been thinking lately that the basic model of the school is fast becoming outdated in the modern times … Perhaps both sets of educators should sit down and ask what kind of schools are needed for this century and if they can be systematically developed over the next twenty years.”
Chavan also shared some of his insight on Pratham’s solutions to problems facing education in India:
“In India, our first objective in many cases is teaching the child basic skills such as reading and writing. Our annual education survey also checks children’s competence in these basic skills and also their school attendance … Looking at the indicators and outcomes is the first step. Based on those results that I have explained above, our team can intervene to help with learning gaps that exist in certain school communities. When we have the schoolteacher and the volunteer (who come from the same community or village as the child) working in sync with the teacher, progress has been made.”
And that’s not even the half of it! Read the article here to learn how Pratham is creating greater access to better-quality education in India.
