The Case of Pratham: An Initiative in The Field of Education

Introduction
Pratham was started in 1994 with the support of UNICEF. A Public Charitable Trust was accordingly formed by the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai together with the association of several prominent citizens of the city. UNICEF continued to play a parental role till 1997, when ICICI bank took over from UNICEF. The Pratham Movement has evolved into an inspiring coalition between community members (who are the grass-root workers, mainly women, and who form the real engines of this movement), corporate leaders, academics, members of the local and central governments, NRIs and qualified professionals from the corporate and non-profit world. Pratham operates with the goal that by 2010, “Every child in India is in school……and learning well.
• In an environment that is mentally stimulating and physically attractive.
• With teachers who are committed, dedicated, skilled and happy and are able to teach children not only the essentials of reading, writing and arithmetic but also good living habits including personal hygiene, clean and healthy environment and respect for other people, their beliefs and their properties.
• Within a community that cherishes children and provides its best to children's care and development.”

Beneficiary Group
India has made rapid strides in tertiary education, with state of art technical, managerial, scientific and liberal art institutions, however, the state of affairs in basic primary school education leaves much to be desired. Various estimates indicate that, in the primary school age group, there are about 70-80 million children (which is more than 50% of all Indian children in this age group), who are either not enrolled in schools or are in school but are not learning. Even though, it is now enshrined as a fundamental right, in reality the state of elementary education continues to remain dismal in India. Pratham has as its target, children in the school going age group, who are denied the opportunity of good education.

Products and Services
Pratham has been serving underprivileged Indian children through five main programs.
• Balwadi Pre-School Program for 3-4 year olds from low-income families.
• Balsakhi Remedial Education Program that provides support for the weaker municipal primary school children.
• Bridge Course targeting children who have never been to school or dropped out. Objective being to enroll them in schools.
• Outreach Program for working children, child labor and children in conflict with the law. Objective again being to get them enrolled in schools.
• Computer Assisted Learning Program that strives to familiarize municipal school children with computers.
These programs are for underprivileged children, mainly in slum areas. Each program unit has an average of around 20 children and instructors are young women from the local community, who are at least educated till Std X. Space is provided by the community and classes are held either in municipal school, community space or teacher’s home.

Business Linkages – Strategy
Pratham follows the strategy of working in collaboration with the local government to improve access to schools and the quality of learning in them. While Pratham does not itself build schools, it strives to strengthen existing government school system. It seeks to build a working partnership in the field of education between the people and the government. Its programs are meant to supplement the municipal school system, and not replacing it. Pratham also strives to make governance of education more effective through people's democratic participation. It aims at a private-public partnership to address issues related to education and arrive at solutions to be put into practice.

Outreach
Pratham’s initiatives are estimated to have reached over a million children since inception. Pratham is presently operating in 13 states. Given its goal, Pratham has a long way to go before it can sufficiently impact elementary education as present estimates of children in the age group 8-14 years who don’t have access to good education is nearly 40 million.

Investment Cost
The Pratham model is simple to implement and easily replicable. No immovable assets are acquired unless a donor specifically requests and the need is clearly established. Administrative costs are kept low. Every attempt is made to reduce overheads as much as possible. Pratham is a cost sufficient initiative and it requires only Rs500.00 per child per year to meet its educational expenses.

Benefits derived
There are several important benefits derived from Pratham’s program. It proves it is possible to mobilize a community to create sustainable solutions. It also shows that government and the community can successfully cooperate. Moreover, given the extensive network of Pratham in the slum areas, it is easy to layer other services (health, computer education) at a minimum additional cost of delivery.

Contact
Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative, Gen J Bhosale Marg, Nariman Point,
Mumbai 400021 Phone: (022) 2886975 E-mail: mumbai@pratham.org