Orissa
Pratham currently works in what is commonly known as Orissa, having been very recently renamed to Odisha. In this state, Pratham has reached every single district, reaching over 82,000 children in over 3000 villages. This is due to the strong partnership that exists with between Pratham and local leadership, such as Gram Panchayats and Village Education Committees (VEC’s), which allow Pratham to teach in in the most impactful and effective ways.
Leveraging over 4000 volunteers, Pratham is working hard to help a state that has nearly 47% of people living below the poverty line. Aser shows that only 9% of 2nd graders can read a 2nd grade level text.
Read India
Working across the state, Pratham reached more than 82,000 children via Read India in 30 Block Excellence Programs (BEPs) through government schools and community centers. In partnership with UNICEF, Pratham is training 1200 government teachers in its CAMal methodology, and six government schools have adapted the same methodology as a result of the partnership with TATA Power.
Education for Education (EFE)
EFE is currently in the process of being rolled out, providing volunteers an opportunity to expand their own horizons. EFE is a program designed to strengthen Read India by offering courses to volunteers in exchange for her contributions to the program. In the current phase of EFE, computer courses are available, while spoken English will be offered in the future.
Urban Learning Centers
Within certain urban areas, Pratham identifies out-of-school children and seeks to enroll them both in the local municipal school and their neighborhood Pratham Urban Learning Center (ULC). This dual enrollment ensures that these out-of-school children recent the additional tutoring needed for them to follow the curriculum of their respective grades. The ULC program in Cuttack adopts a tutorial model, where children given help where required. There are currently 7 ULC’s running Cuttack, as well as 24 ‘Libraries’, where children are taught to read These programs operate out of Pratham’s own centers, located Cuttack’s urban slums.
Future Plans
Pratham plans to set up ‘PRATAP’ Centers (Pratham Training, Assessment and Placement Centre) in order to begin its transition to a post-secondary institution which will not only be accessible to volunteers but to all youth. These centers will be run in conjunction with the EFE program initially. At this time, a village census has been conducted, which includes details of proximity, travel times, and travel costs from villages to proposed EFE centers. Locations have been selected, and two separate EFE models have been designed – the dispersed model, and the mini center model. The mini center model will entail a physical center in which the classes will take place whilst the dispersed model will entail individuals taking the program to the locations and running them out of community spaces.
