Pratham gets $9.1 million grant

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Read India initiative to promote reading skills in children

August 07, 2007

Pratham, an organization which supports Indian children's education received a $9.1 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett and Bill & Melinda Gates foundations. The grant supports Pratham's Read India initiative, which is working in conjunction with Indian state governments to help ensure that children between the ages of 6 and 14 achieve basic mastery in these skills by the end of 2009.

The gift to Pratham is the first grant the Hewlett and Gates foundations have awarded in their partnership to improve the quality of education in developing countries. The two foundations previously announced that they will collaborate on a series of grants to improve the quality of education at primary and secondary schools in the developing world.

The grant to Pratham will improve basic learning skills in 100 districts of India, touching 10 million children spread over 10 states for three years. The project, which was launched in January, will be executed in two phases: first "learning to read" followed by "reading to learn." The grant also will support; a rigorous evaluation of the Read India program, the large-scale expansion of a model to rapidly improve learning levels of children in language, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences and life skills, and an evaluation of individual learning outcomes.

According to Dr. Madhav Chavan, Pratham's Co-Founder and Director of Programs, an estimated 50 percent of the children in India cannot read at a minimum level. The Read India initiative, led by Pratham in collaboration with the state governments of India, is a phased programs that will focus on four major components: introducing "learning to read" activities in all schools, creating and supplying reading and learning materials to teachers, involving mothers in their children's learning, and mobilizing youth groups in helping teachers, children, and parents.

The program will be an important step in the efforts to end the cycle of poverty perpetuated by illiteracy and poor education. As part of its mission, Pratham volunteers and supporters are working to ensure that every Indian child is in school and learning well, enabling India to eliminate childhood illiteracy in India and to meet the UN millennium education goals.

Pratham USA President Mahalingham Ramesh said that the organization's goal is to raise $15 million in additional funding in the next two years through major sponsorships and individual donations in order to provide the remaining 500 districts with the necessary resources of staff, volunteers and measurement of results.

Pratham USA President Mahalingham Ramesh said that the organization's goal is to raise $15 million in additional funding in the next two years through major sponsorships and individual donations in order to provide the remaining 500 districts with the necessary resources of staff, volunteers and measurement of results.

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