President Barack Obama Encourages Pratham's Efforts to Hold Government Accountable

During President Obama’s recent trip to India, he met Pratham Program Manager, Usha Rane who spoke about Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). President Obama commended Pratham for its efforts and autographed a copy of the report, with the comments “good work.”

“ASER uses simple tools to empower people nationwide to test their childrens' math and reading abilities, and then hold local government accountable to outcomes. With this data, ASER creates a Report, which surveys literacy in 570 districts and 700,000 children of India with citizen participation. Each year 25,000 volunteers donate 4 days of their time to gather the data for this report.” - Office of the Press Secretary, White House, November 6, 2010.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2010/11/06/expo-democracy-and-open-government

The day prior, President Obama sat shoulder to shoulder with Pratham Chairman, Ajay Piramal and Pratham Founder and CEO, Madhav Chavan at a roundtable discussion on the collaborative ventures between US and India businesses, technology and social entrepreneurs. In his remarks at the US India Business Council and Entrepreneurship Summit later that evening, President Obama stated, “These are steps we can take together to strengthen the economic ties between our nations — ties that hold incredible promise for our people and our future — the promise of new jobs, new industries and new growth... I'm confident because we both recognize that knowledge is the currency of the future, and that we must give our children the skills and education that success requires in a global economy.”