Haryana

Working with over 16,000 children, Pratham in Haryana is a small but growing program, with a strong base of operations in Gurgaon focused on direct programs and capacity building. Pratham has a strong three-way partnership, between local corporations, government schools and Pratham.

Here is what the Aser report found in Haryana.

• Men have a literacy rate of 78.49%.
• Women have a literacy rate of 55.73%.
• However, only about 50% of fourth graders can read a 2nd grade text.

Working with communities, we provide a robust direct program:

Direct Program

This program is conducted in partnership with corporates and governments. The goal of the program is to improve quality of learning in government schools, by focusing on the struggling students who are most prone to dropping out of the formal education system. Innovative methods and tools are used to improve a child’s learning level from letters to reading stories or from identifying numbers to solving sums. During the course of this program children are tested to ensure continued growth and to push them towards Pratham’s fundamental goal: “Every child in school…and learning well.” Below are the elements of our direct program in Haryana.

Hindi, English & Math Direct Program

The aim is to ensure grade level literacy, using Pratham’s child-friendly materials and results oriented teaching approach. These programs specifically target the weakest students in each class. With additional teaching volunteers in Hindi and Math, the program also promotes a life-long love of reading through an in school library program. The English module has been designed to address areas of reading comprehension and conversation using an interactive learning process rarely found in a traditional Indian government schools. Children are encouraged to use conversation concepts in their day to day lives, and are tested throughout the program to track their progress. In 2010-11, Haryana’s programs produced an increase in story-level readers by 36% in Hindi, while in math, the proportion of children at subtraction and division levels increased by 32% and 24% respectively.

Training and Capacity Building of Volunteer Teachers

Volunteer teachers were trained in English and computers, two skill areas that are highly sought after in rural India but often hard to acquire. This program works both to promote the concept of life-long learning and to bolster volunteers’ capacity as instructors, and is received with great appreciation and enthusiasm from Pratham’s dedicated volunteers.

Summer Camp

Pratham also organized a summer camp in 35 schools across the district, for approximately 1400 children. The camp was a special opportunity for the children to participate in music, art, and dance activities, with an art show and dance mela at the conclusion of the program.