Pratham

USD1 million grant for an NGO

Pratham, the largest non-governmental organisation (NGO) in India, was awarded the first grant of USD1 million by Ana’s Children, a global initiative to fund education for underprivileged children in the developing world. The award has been set up by Ana Tzarev, a renowned Croatian artist. Over the next three years Ana’s Children, together with Pratham, will support 10,000 girls in secondary schools where the drop-out rate is high. This initiative will make it possible for girls to pursue higher education or vocational skills. Pratham, established by Dr Madhav Chavan in 1994, works towards providing quality education to underprivileged children in India and abroad. Dr Chavan was awarded the USD 50,00,000 WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) Prize, known as the Nobel Prize in Education, in 2012. Pratham has been named twice as the Top 100 NGO’s in the world by The Global Journal.

Through balwadis (pre-education classes) and learning support programmes in urban slums and poor villages Pratham ensures that “every child (is) in school and learning well”. Read India, with the goal that every child should be able to read, write and do basic arithmetic, was launched in 2007. Over 3.4 crore children have shown improvement. Pratham reached more than 30 lakh children in 2011. The initiative has reached 17 Indian states and covers over 150 rural districts and 30 cities.