by lwang | Oct 29, 2012 | Community Development, Education, Pratham
2010 Kravis Prize winner Pratham, one of India’s largest NGOs committed to educating underprivileged children, is constantly innovating in order to improve education in India. In a recent posting on the Friends of Pratham blog, Namrta Kaushal addresses the question, “How well is every child learning?” and explores the tools Pratham has developed to assess children’s educational attainment. Pratham recognizes the need for educational assessments to promote greater understanding of academic performance and achievement. The program asserts that finding out, on an ongoing basis, what a child knows and can do, helps parents and teachers decide how to pose new challenges and provide children strategic guidance. Namrta Kaushal writes: “There is an increasing pressure on the average primary school teacher, especially with large, overcrowded classes of pupils with varying abilities and languages. Understandably it can be difficult for the teacher to flag a child’s difficulties.” With the goal of assessing the learning level of children, Pratham Delhi Education Initiative conducted about 20 “Assessment Melas” (Sanskrit for “gatherings”) across Delhi this October. Please click here to read the full blog post and learn more about Pratham’s...
by lwang | Oct 5, 2012 | Community Development, Education, Pratham
Since its inception in 1994, 2010 Kravis Prize winner Pratham, the largest non-governmental organization working to arm India with quality education, has opened doors for millions of underprivileged children. Their immeasurable impact has been met with overwhelming support across the country, with $1.5 million in donations last year. The San Francisco Bay Area Gala kicked off Pratham’s event trail last month raising over $400,000. Pratham first orchestrated a system that provided pre-school education to children in the slums of Mumbai, but the organization’s scope has evolved remarkably as Madhav Chavan, president and CEO of Pratham shares: “Now, we not only focus on primary school education in the slums, but also provide vocational and aid-based training, so that students can apply their education in the real world.” The evening included a teleconference that allowed children from Pratham Pune to showcase their accomplishments and share their aspirations with the audience. Swarna Khedekar, a teacher at Pratham, expressed her pride in the program and her profound gratitude for their supporters: “Our library and English education programs have grown in popularity. We have reached over 127,000 children this year through our library program…until now, we had only heard of our donors in the USA. It’s a great opportunity to be able to meet them and thank them in person.” To learn more about the inspiring work of Pratham, visit our page. “PRATHAM SF Bay Area Gala Raises 400K for Nonprofit” [India West, September 27,...
by lwang | Aug 17, 2012 | Education, Pratham
2010 Kravis Prize winner Pratham is constantly innovating in order to improve education in India. For example, Pratham’s flagship program Read India cooperates with schoolteachers, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and village communities in order to help children between the ages of 6 to 14 read, write and learn basic mathematics. Pratham CEO A Seshadri discussed the program: “We trained volunteers from each village to teach the children in their village at government school premises. Group of young volunteers from remote villages around T Narsipura came forward.” According to Seshadri, volunteers receive computer and spoken English training, instead of payment, which will aid them in the job market. Read India holds classes in the evening after school hours. One of its programs, Kannada Vachana Karyakrama, aims at building language skills in children to correct the graded difficulties at different levels of reading and pronunciation, while another program Nagu Nagutha Ganitha teaches math through a child-led model. To learn more about Pratham’s great work, visit our page. “Welcoming kids to the world of learning” [Times of India, August 12,...
by lwang | Jun 1, 2012 | Education, Pratham
A common characteristic of Kravis Prize winners is their widespread impact within their fields of expertise. 2010 Kravis Prize winner Pratham is a renowned innovator and leader in the field of education. The organization educates countless children through its programs, such as Read India, and also publishes cheap, accessible books through its not-for-profit publisher, Pratham Books. Through Pratham Books, the organization offers high quality books for children at affordable prices and in multiple Indian languages. For example, Madhuri Purandare, a reputable Marathi children’s book writer and illustrator, is publishing two of her books in English through Pratham Books! The books are already available in Hindi, Kannada and Telugu, and the publisher continues to expand its reach. In fact, Purandare’s books embody the spirit of Pratham Books: “It has simple language and consists of daily experiences, but not of the usual kind. These are ones, which the children can relate to. … Different topics should be taken and for different age groups. There is less literature for the 10 plus group. There is little literature available for those above 10, but nothing after that. If it is available, then I think the kids will read them.” “Words for children” [The Pune Mirror, May 25, 2012] Learn more about Pratham on our page and check out Pratham Books’...
by lwang | Jan 26, 2012 | BRAC, Escuela Nueva, FAWE, Fazle Abed, Landesa, Pratham, Roy Prosterman
The Global Journal just released their January/February 2012 issue, which for the first time ranked the top 100 best nongovernmental organizations in the world. We’re delighted to announce that FIVE Kravis Prize winners were ranked among the top 50 NGOs! BRAC even made it into the top five and has a nice feature on the website, which also mentions 2007 Kravis Prize winner Sir Fazle Abed. “Established by former Shell Oil executive Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC was part of an influential wave of organizations – alongside the Grameen Bank and ASA – that went on to revolutionize development strategies not only in their home countries, but across the world. Unlike its counterparts, however, which focused on refining and expanding their pioneering micro-credit and micro-finance models, BRAC also added a range of social programs to the mix and has continued to diversify and leverage its unique ability to achieve economies of scale over time.” Check out what else they had to say about BRAC here and the other Kravis Prize winners that are part of this year’s list, including Escuela Nueva (Founder Vicky Colbert, 2011), Pratham (2010), FAWE (2008) and Landesa (Founder Roy Prosterman,...
by lwang | Jan 20, 2012 | Education, Pratham
2010 Kravis Prize winner Pratham, the largest non-governmental organization in the world, works to provide quality education to underprivileged children in India. But that’s not all! The organization is also a reliable research source and released their seventh Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) this week, which was cited by the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development. India’s National University of Educational Planning and Administration also released a comprehensive report this week that echoes the findings of Pratham’s ASER. The report has sparked discussion in media outlets about what can be done to improve the educational system in rural India. The Times of India published several articles about the study, pointing out important statistics. The Hindu and other Indian news outlets also discussed the results of the report. Here are some highlights from the study: • The dropout of female students in the age group of 11 to 14 years is currently 9.5 percent in the state of Jaipur. This was 20 percent in 2006. • The rate of enrollment in private schools has gone up from 19.15 percent to 26.6 percent since 2006. • The number of class III students able to solve subtraction problems fell from 36.6 percent in 2010 to 29.9 percent in 2011. “Rural India going to private schools: Report” [The Times of India, January 18, 2012] “Sharp decline in dropout of girl students” [The Times of India, January 18, 2012] “Enrollment of marginalized primary students on the wane” [The Times of India, January 18, 2012] “Alarming decline in reading and mathematical skills in 6-14 age group, says ASER” [The Hindu, January 18, 2012] “Failing...
