Pratham

We are Pratham, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of education for children. Our journey began in India in 1995, in the bustling city of Mumbai. At the time, we were a small group, co-founded by Madhav Chavan and Farida Lambay, with a very specific and important goal. We saw that many children living in the city’s poorest neighborhoods, known as slums, had no access to early childhood education. To solve this, we started our very first program: community-based preschools called ‘balwadis.’ By setting up these small schools right inside the communities where children lived, we could give them a safe and encouraging place to begin their educational journey, preparing them for the challenges of primary school.

After establishing our preschools, we began to expand our work to support older children already enrolled in government schools. We believed that if children were attending school, they must be learning. However, as we spent more time in these classrooms, we uncovered a problem that was both surprising and deeply concerning. We observed that many students, even in the fourth or fifth grade, could not read a simple paragraph or solve basic arithmetic problems. They were physically present in school, but they were falling further and further behind because they hadn't mastered the foundational skills. This discovery changed everything for us. It forced us to ask a critical question that would guide our work for years to come: Are India's children truly learning what they need to know to succeed?

To find a real answer to this question, we knew we couldn't rely on assumptions. We needed solid evidence. This led us to create a groundbreaking initiative in 2005 called the Annual Status of Education Report, which is better known by its acronym, ASER. ASER was not a typical government study. Instead, it was a huge, citizen-led survey. Every year, thousands of trained volunteers travel to villages in nearly every rural district across India. They visit households and use simple, carefully designed tools to test children's basic reading and math abilities. This direct approach allowed us to see what children could actually do, rather than just what grade they were in. The results of the first ASER report were eye-opening. They confirmed that the learning crisis was not limited to a few schools but was a widespread national challenge. By sharing this clear and easy-to-understand data, ASER helped everyone—from government officials to parents—recognize the true scale of the problem.

Armed with the powerful evidence from the ASER reports, we knew we couldn't just point out the problem; we had to help solve it. In 2007, we launched one of our largest and most ambitious campaigns, ‘Read India.’ The mission was clear: to help millions of children who had been left behind to catch up on their reading, writing, and math skills. To do this effectively, we developed an innovative approach called ‘Teaching at the Right Level,’ or TaRL. The idea behind TaRL is simple but revolutionary. Instead of teaching children based on their age or the grade they are officially in, we group them according to their actual learning level. A ten-year-old who is just beginning to recognize letters might learn in a group with seven-year-olds who are at the same stage. This method allows teachers to focus on the specific needs of each group, building children's confidence and helping them master foundational skills at a much faster pace.

From our simple start with preschools in Mumbai, our work has grown in ways we could have hardly imagined. The 'Teaching at the Right Level' model has been so effective that it has now reached millions of children in thousands of communities all across India. We have also begun partnering with governments and other non-profit organizations in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to help them adapt our methods to their own educational systems. As the world changes, we continue to evolve as well. We now integrate technology into our programs, using tablets and fun learning apps to make education more engaging and accessible for today's children. Furthermore, we recognize that education doesn't stop in childhood. We also run vocational programs that equip young adults with the practical skills they need to find good jobs and build secure futures for themselves. Our mission remains focused on ensuring that every single child has the opportunity not just to go to school, but to truly learn and reach their full potential.