About Pratham
Pratham, which means "first" in Sanskrit, was founded in the slums of Mumbai in 1994 with UNICEF support. Today, Pratham’s direct urban programs, including pre-schools, community libraries and remedial learning programs reach hundreds of thousands of children every year. In 2007, with the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Pratham launched the Read India campaign, an innovative, low-cost effort to reach the ~100 million children in India who cannot read, write or do basic math. With the continued support of the Hewlett Foundation in 2010, the Read India campaign has entered its second phase, focusing its attention at the village level and teaching more advanced learning skills.
Pratham's Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) evaluates India's status of education through direct testing of over 700,000 children in 16,000 villages across India. ASER is the only annual measurement of basic literacy and numeracy conducted at scale in India today and its widespread dissemination has helped focus government attention on the issue of learning. To support newly literate children across India, Pratham Books has developed and published over 130 titles and printed over 3 million children's books in local Indian languages.
With an annual budget of less than $15 million, Pratham combines large-scale impact with an extremely efficient use of funds. Pratham USA (www.prathamusa.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a four-star rating (the highest possible) from Charity Navigator, accepts tax deductible contributions from U.S. donors.
You Can Help
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