by nowchar | Feb 11, 2015 | Education, Kravis Prize, Poverty Reduction, Pratham
Are education efforts and outreach to children in rural India producing positive results? The answer is both encouraging and troubling, according to NGO Pratham’s 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), released this week in New Delhi. “While more than 96 percent of children in the 6-14 age group are attending school,” reports Indian media site IBN, Pratham’s analysis suggests that “there are still some worrying signs as reading and mathematical abilities are still not up to the mark.” Pratham was honored in 2010 with the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership for its literacy efforts throughout the country, particularly the program Read India, which has reached more than 34 million children. But as the organization’s latest ASER indicates, much work remains to be done even though the report presents substantial success. Among the findings announced this week: for the 6-14 age group, the percentage of children enrolled in schools across the nation remains at more than 96% for the sixth year in a row; the percentage of children not enrolled for that age group is 3.3% in older age groups, particularly for 15- and 16-year-olds, the number of children not enrolled in school jumps to much higher percentages: 15.9% for boys, 17.3% for girls simple reading and basic arithmetic skills continue to be “a serious and major source of concern,” with increases in various age groups of children struggling with number and character recognition daily attendance percentages for primary and upper primary schools continue to climb, which is a hopeful sign, as are improvements in facilities (availability of clean drinking water, toilets, equipment) which is improving the...
by lwang | Mar 6, 2014 | CMC, Community Development, Education, Kravis Prize, Pratham
Knowledge that can radically change lives is a potent form of knowledge that cuts across categories and barriers — that’s been the key to Pratham’s success for more than 20 years, and it’s also the reason why the Mumbai-based organization and 2010 Kravis Prize recipient has been selected for a 2013 Frontiers of Knowledge Award from the BBVA Foundation. The BBVA Foundation, which serves as the charitable arm of the banking organizations Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, has announced the selection of eight 2013 laureates, including Pratham, which has been honored for “their originality, theoretical significance and ability to push back the frontiers of the known world.” The award includes a cash prize of €400,000 (approx. $570,000). While biologist Christopher Field was awarded for his work on climate change and British biochemist Adrian Bird for his discoveries in epigenetics, Pratham was honored for its educational work with disadvantaged children in the award category of “development cooperation.” “Pratham has expanded the scope of education in resource-constrained areas,” the BBVA jury announced in a prepared statement. “It has done so through two significant innovations: the creation of simple, accurate and reliable tools for communities to assess learning; and a process that uses scientific evidence to develop new cost-effective programs that drastically improve learning levels.” Though Pratham has been in operation in India since 1994, its profile outside the country remained relatively low until the awarding of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership in 2010. In the years since that award in recognition of the NGO’s work on improving literacy with programs such as Read India, Pratham has gone on to receive several more major international...
by lwang | Oct 23, 2013 | Education, Entrepreneurship, Kravis Prize, Pratham
Google’s Global Impact Awards are honoring the powerful ways that tech produces substantial, positive outcomes in the lives of communities around the world. A program related to Kravis Prize recipient Pratham is among 10 nominees for this year’s award as part of the Google Impact Challenge initiative. While three winners will be determined by a panel of judges, a fourth winner will be based on an internet-wide vote. The deadline for voting is October 30. Go here to cast your vote. The Global Impact Challenge is an award program providing help to Indian non-profits that are targeting some of that nation’s most serious problems. Among this year’s candidates are several employing digital tools to address situations including sanitation in India’s slums, gender-based violence, and education in rural areas. Pratham Books, which fits under the umbrella of efforts by Pratham (recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership in 2010), is under award consideration for its development of an easy access web platform to support children’s literacy throughout the country. According to their proposal, reading levels fall far below satisfactory standards — “Nearly 50% of Indian 5th graders currently read at a 2nd grade level” — and this dire problem is largely due to a lack of available age-appropriate reading materials. With the help of a Global Impact Award, Pratham Books will construct an open source website where children’s e-books can be created and existing children’s books from around the world can be translated into at least 25 languages. “The word Pratham means ‘first’ or ‘priority,’ and we think that having every child in school and learning well should be...
by lwang | Jun 21, 2013 | FAWE, Kravis Prize, Landesa, Pratham
The needs of the poor and the disadvantaged don’t stop in the summer, and neither have the efforts of several Kravis Prize recipients, who are continuing to deliver innovative aid to communities around the world. In recent weeks, a new Pratham partnership enjoyed major media attention, Landesa produced an impact video, and FAWE launched a remarkable African research series. ************** The recent partnership between Pratham and the Wrigley Company Foundation was featured in the Times of India. According to the article, the Wrigley Company Foundation announced the launch of a three-year, $1 million educational partnership with Pratham, the largest non-governmental education organization in India. The goal of the new effort is to bring more quality education to underprivileged children in India. Specifically, the initiative plans to target learning gaps in the farming districts of Uttar Pradesh. The organization’s executives hope to reach 40,000 children in 1,000 villages. In an interview with the Times, Pratham co-founder and CEO Madhav Chavan explained that ”Uttar Pradesh has low learning levels as shown by the Annual Survey of Educational Report/2012 and we hope to address these problems in the region.” ************** This month, Landesa released a video to allow viewers to watch what happens when women are given equal rights to land and family resources as a result of Kenya’s new constitution and an innovation pilot program. The short video follows Mary Sadera, who lives in the forested area of Ol Pusimoru. She explains her day-to-day life, as well as how her and her children’s futures will change because of the tribal elders’ new thinking on women’s land rights. View the five-minute video, titled “A Revolution from the Ground...
by lwang | May 2, 2013 | AIL, Johann Olav Koss, Pratham, Right 2 Play
“Maternal mortality is still a huge problem in Afghanistan, where being pregnant and giving birth are a risky business,” writes Sakena Yacoobi on the interactive women’s empowerment site, World Pulse. As executive director of the Afghan Institute of Learning, Yacoobi was invited by the media site to describe how AIL’s workshop for expectant mothers is combating misinformation and “old wives’ tales,” and encouraging more women to receive clinic care. Since the first workshops started in 2010, Yacoobi notes vastly better results in safe, healthy births for both mother and infant. She ends her report on an optimistic note about the power of education and the receptiveness of Afghan women: [I]t shows the situation within our culture is not intractable; change and improvement in outcome is possible. Afghan women just need the opportunity of education; they will seize the opportunity and then they will take responsibility to look after themselves and their children in the best way possible. There is no uphill battle to be fought in persuading a change in attitude; it is a question of access to knowledge which is the catalyst for a shift in what is normal behavior. **** **** Pratham co-founder Madhav Chavan finished a 9-city tour of the U.S. with a stop in Houston for the Pratham Annual Gala, held at the Hilton Americas Hotel in downtown Houston. His American travels included a visit in April to CMC to attend ceremonies for 2013 Kravis Prize recipient Johann Olav Koss. His Claremont trip included participating in a lively panel discussion with other past Kravis Prize recipients (Pratham received the Prize in 2010). In Houston, Chavan...
by lwang | Apr 19, 2013 | Award Ceremony, Escuela Nueva, FAWE, Johann Olav Koss, Kravis Prize, Landesa, m2m, Pratham, Right 2 Play
Kravis Prize founders Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis ’67 visited the CMC campus yesterday to present the 2013 Kravis Prize to Johann Olav Koss and his organization Right To Play. They presented the award to Koss during an evening ceremony held in the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum (see photograph below). Click here to read a full update on the ceremony. The award ceremony wasn’t the only item on the day’s schedule, however. Koss also talked about his organization Right To Play with Kyle Weiss ’15, a CMCer who is also helping the world with FUNDaFIELD, which builds soccer fields to help disadvantaged children: Watch an interview between Johann Koss and Kyle Weiss: During the afternoon, five past recipients of the Kravis Prize (from Landesa, mothers2mothers, Escuela Nueva, Pratham, and FAWE) met for a lively discussion of high-impact leadership as part of a “Global Leaders Forum” sponsored by the Kravis Leadership Institute: Click here to read a full update on the Kravis Prize panel discussion...
