WASHINGTON: A staggering 100 million children making up about half of India's school-going children cannot read a grade-appropriate text or solve a grade appropriate math question.

Trying to bridge that gap through "low-cost, scalable methods" is Pratham, an NGO dedicated to educating underprivileged children and youth in India that last year raised $11.5 million in contributions in the U.S.

"Rather than build schools, we partner with local schools and community stakeholders, including government, to multiply our impact," Bala Venkatachalam, executive director of Pratham USA who leads its fundraising activities in the U.S.

In a recent success story, Pratham piloted learning camps in Jehanabad, a rural district in Bihar in 2012. The programme identified students in Grades 3-5 who were struggling to read and perform basic math operations.

"Through our intensive coaching in partnership with district education administration, we helped these students improve their reading and math skills in just three months," Venkatachalam said.

Government officials were delighted and are now working with Pratham to roll out the programme across the entire state, he said.

To "deliver quality education to underprivileged children and youth across India," Pratham designs and implements large-scale programmes to teach basic reading and arithmetic at the primary school level.

These reach an estimated two million children in over 700,000 villages each year.

To address gaps in the education system, Pratham has since 2008 expanded its focus to include young adults, training them in vocational skills so that they can join the work force.

Also Read:
Opportunities Galore in Marketing: TCS Honcho
Improving Workforce Diversity Important For 90 Per Cent Of Indian CEOs