Assam

The Assamese chapter of Read India, known as “Porhim, Hikim” (Assamese for “Read & Learn”) was launched in August 2007. An ambitious program, cosponsored by the Assam SSA Ministry and UNICEF, was focused on training 32,000 teachers with better teaching techniques in all of Assam’s 23 districts.

Due to poor performance by the Assamese SSA Ministry in 2007, in addition to teachers’ heavy skepticism of SSA programs, in August 2008 “Porhim, Hikim” will partner only with UNICEF in an effort to win stronger teacher support. This time around Pratham and UNICEF will target specific Tea Garden schools in 11districts in Assam. Tea Garden Communities are mostly populated by laborers who are generally paid poorly to work in tea gardens collecting tea leaves. Tea Garden Communities are a very large population of Assam, as it is estimated that Assam provides 1/6 of the world’s tea.


[An Assamese Tea Garden]

However, before teacher training begins in August the Assam state team has taken on the major task of putting on summer camps in 22 of 23 Districts in Assam, and the massive mobilization of people underway here for the summer camps is incredible. In mid-April this year, the ~40 Pratham District Coordinators (DCs) hired a total of 423 “Cluster” Coordinators (CCs) [note: a “cluster” is defined as about 40-50 schools] to work for 4 months to mobilize thousands of volunteers in rural Assam and oversee the successful implementation of summer camps in their clusters.

Pratham Assam’s summer camp objectives are the same as other camps I have visited: to raise children’s comprehension up 1 level in reading and mathematics.

Tomorrow Ashok and I head out to visit the autonomous District of Kokrajhar as they are having a special inauguration of the summer camps for the District, and they expect many local officials to come out for it.



______________________________________________________
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www.prathamusa.org

Airtel Nowhere

I stepped into the cab and told the driver to take me to “Zoo Road Tiniali,” the area where the Pratham Assam office is. Sitting in the back seat, I looked around at the lush, green plants and stout trees that lined the road we set off on. Small billboards stood atop metal poles on the stone divider that separated the driving lanes and announced:
Airtel Everywhere
Airtel Everywhere
Airtel Everywhere
Airtel Everywhere
Airtel Everywhere
Airtel Everywhere
Airtel Everywhere


I switched on my Airtel phone (I swear this is not an Airtel commercial…) to let Mutum Ashok, the Assam State Coordinator, that I was on my way. The phone turned on and strangely gave me zero-bars of reception. Hmmm… but what about
Airtel Everywhere?
Airtel Everywhere?
Airtel Everywhere?

An hour later, while having lunch with Ashok on the patio of an outdoor restaurant in Guwahati, Assam’s main city, he explained to me that because of heavy insurgency-movements in the Northeastern states of India the Indian government blocks the signal of pre-paid telephones (like BOOST-mobile in the US) because the government believes insurgency groups could use prepaid phones to carry out their anti-state activities. No phone for 10 days.

He then explained that my Pratham-issued Reliance Datacard, which allows me to access the internet through the Reliance mobile phone network (this entry is basically going to be one long advertisement…) would not work either for the same reasons. No internet/email for 10 days. And so, no blogging for 10 days...


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Saying Bye in Gujarat

After visiting multiple villages in Gujarat, relieved that the Pratham Teaching Learning Material had been distributed to the Anganwadis by the state government, and satisfied by the teaching methods the Anganwadi workers were using, I traveled with Vasant (a Pratham Gujarat 6-year veteran) to the village of Raipur in the Gandhinagar District of Gujarat.

When we arrived at the Anganwadi there, we found 30 children in lines with plates in their hands. It seemed that the Sarpanch (the elected community leader) was hosting a lunch for the entire village to mourn the passing of his father and that the children were preparing to head out for that. While we were speaking with the Anganwadi worker, a large tractor pull up in front of the school. Behind the tractor was a large flatbed and we realized that was how the kids were traveling to the Sarpanch’s home. The kids eagerly jumped onto the flatbed and I (just as eagerly) ran over to get some pictures. When the tractor had left and we had finished speaking to the Principal, we set off to go back to Ahmedabad on Vasant’s motorcycle. On the road, we caught up to our friends…

(Look out for the Principal of the school as he rides by us with a handkerchief around his head, and be sure to watch to the end to catch a quick cameo by the daring filmaker himself-- me.)

______________________________________________________
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How Old Are These Kids?

Here's a strange, confusing story:

The academic school year started this week and in the village of Bhakodra in the Ankleshwar Block of the Bharuch District we visited an Anganwadi (government-sponsored kindergarten) to see how the new year was going. But when we arrived at 10:15am (Anganwadis open at 10) there were only 5 children there and more importantly no Anganwadi worker.

The assistant to the worker, who was there instead, told us that the government supervisor of Anganwadi workers in the area had called a meeting for all Angawadi workers. While I was very skeptical of this at first, the Anganwadi worker’s daily log had a note (dated yesterday) written by her supervisor that said she was calling a meeting for all Anganwadi workers. So that seemed legitimate.

But then...
the assistant Anganwadi worker told us that with the academic year starting this week, all 4 year-olds in the village had been sent to start Std I. The Pratham worker I was with told me that all across Gujarat 4 year-olds were being shifted into Std I. This wasn't right.

So I called into the Ahmedabad office to double-check the facts. Those in the office confirmed that only 5 & 6 year-olds (not 4 year-olds) should not be placed in Std I. They also suggested that we speak with those at the Primary school to see what was going down.

At the Primary school we spoke with the Principal. The Principal told us that only 5 year-olds were enrolled in Std I and that the assistant Anganwadi worker was wrong. I was a little relieved, but with all the confusion in the town, I was not convinced that this was happening, so I thought it would be useful to talk with the kids in Std I.

The Principal walked us to the Std I classroom and told me the students were all 5. I looked around the class and saw a tiny girl in her blue uniform and I asked her how old she was. The Principal told me she was too young and wouldn’t know her age, but she proved him wrong and replied “Four.” We then checked with all the kids in the class and we found that 6 of 35 kids were 4 years-old. To me this was a problem.

The Principal then told me that if the children would be 5 by August 1^st they were considered 5 and fit for Std I. I was very skeptical of this, and tried to ask some of the children there birthdate. My Pratham colleague translated my Hindi into Gujarati but it seemed like the children did not know their birthdates. I asked for documentation, records, etc. but was told it was too early in the year and that they did not have them yet.

It was a very strange visit in Bhakodra, from the Anganwadi worker not being there, to the confusion over the children's age. I was frustrated not to be able solve the problem, but sometimes things just work out that way...

______________________________________________________
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Gujarat

I flew to Delhi from Patna last night, and this afternoon flew to Ahmedabad-- quick, cross-country traveling! I reached the Pratham Gujarat office around 6pm and sat with State Head Deepak Dogra, who explained how Pratham Gujarat has taken a different approach to summer camps than anywhere else in the country.

For over a year the Gujarat state Sarva Shiksa Abhiyan Ministry (with the mission to make sure all children are enrolled in school) has focused on enrolling 5 year-old children into Standard I (Std I--1st grade-- which children usually enter at the age of 6) in order to reduce the number of 6 year-olds out of school. Like it or not, this new policy has been successful, as demonstrated by the 33% increase of 5 year-olds enrolled in government schools shown in the table "In pre-school (Balwadi/Anganwadi) or in school 2006 vs. 2007" on page 119 of the ASER 2007 Report.

In order to complement the government's approach Pratham Gujarat has chosen to focus its summer campaign on ensuring that these 5 year-olds are sufficiently prepared when they enter Std I. So this summer Pratham's objective is to make 5 year-old children who will be entering Std I in mid-June (soon) proficient in reading letters and identifying numbers.

But how? Pratham's answer in Gujarat is to train government Anganwadi (kindergarten) workers with Pratham techniques. In April, with the permission of the Gujarat state government, Pratham trained approximately 35,000 Anganwadi workers all across Gujarat. The workers, who work in about 18,000 villages, were also supplied with Pratham-created Teaching Learning Material (TLM) distributed to the anganwadi workers by the state of Gujarat.

It will be interesting visiting Anganwadis after seeing only summer camps to this point. I'll be in Gujarat for the next 2 days and will write soon on what I see.

______________________________________________________
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The Music of Gyanshalas

Bihar is state that has continually been ravaged by river flooding. In August 2007,

"State Disaster Management department sources said over 11 million people spread over 4,822 villages in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Saharsa, East Champaran, Supaul, Darbhanga, Patna, Bhagalpur, West Champaran, Katihar, Madhubani, Samastipur, Sheohar, Nalanda, Khagaria, Gopalganj, Madhepura, Araria and Begusarai were affected by the floods." (http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=90467)

Devasting flooding combined with a variety of other factors (including a lack of employment opportunities and poverty) has led to heavy migration from Bihar. Migration is especially prevalent in the Sitamarhi District (where we are now) which is a major source for child labourers working across India. For many years Pratham has worked to break this cycle and free children from labouring in big cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. One Pratham initiative has gone the distance and returned Bihari child migrants back to their home districts in Bihar. With their parents consent many of these boys have entered Pratham Gyanshalas (meaning "Gyan" Knowledge "shala" School) which provides lodging, 3 meals a day, tutoring services, and a caring community. There are 6 Gyanshalas in Bihar, 4 in Sitamarhi and 2 in the Kishanganj District.

Rukmini and I stayed in a Gyanshala in Sitamarhi and last night at about 10pm we spoke with the ~30 boys. They asked me all sorts of questions about being from America and asked Rukmini even more questions about her work-related visit to Pakistan (she had only good things to say).**

This afternoon (after visiting 4 summer camps) we stopped by another Gyanshala in Sonbarsa Block where I met Muhammed Quyum.
Muhammed is from the village of Davrimore (near Silampur) and had never been to school before he moved to Delhi to work at a Zari (embroidery factory) at age 9. He spent about half a year working in a tight, cramped room before finally moving back to Bihar to live and study in a Pratham Gyanshala. Muhammed has been living in the Gyanshala for 2-and a half years now, and while he was shy and timid, he still possessed a rough exterior which made it difficult to fully engage him.

We learned that Muhammed was a great singer and he was brought a tabla to perform. Please watch this video below; it is one of the most touching and painful performances I have ever seen. Muhammed sings a song called "Kahai Tune Mujko Bombay Bhejah?" which translates to "Why did you send me to Bombay?" The song is about a young boy in a sweatshop who sings to his mother, asking "why did you send me away?" and "please bring me back home."

While Muhammed sang this song, many of his peers hummed along in unison. Watching them all share in this song together was both heart-breaking and empowering. After all they've been through, it's difficult to understand how these boys could smile as large as they did, and be as kind and welcoming as they were. Even though they have had a very tough past, it looks to me that with Pratham's help they each have promising futures.

**Side-note Highlight of the Day (continued from above):

At the end of this impromptu class session Rukmini asked Arun, one of the boys there known as a great musician, to sing a song in Bhojpuri (a Bihari language). After he finished, she looked at me and said, "Pushkar, why don't you sing a song in English for them?" I definitely wasn't expecting that. After a moment of heavy anticipation-- with all the boys staring at me-- I began.

Sometimes in our lives,

We all have pain,

We all have sorrow.

But if we are wise,

We know that there's

Always tomorrow...

I was singing Bill Wither's "Lean on Me." I gathered my courage and as I sang louder (and more soulfully...) I even got some of them--the ones who realized I needed a friend-- to begin clapping along with me. I finished and was greeted with mild applause and a lot of giggling. After we translated the song into Hindi so the boys could clearly understand the song's meaning, I received a much more enthusiastic applause.

And then? Rukmini suggested we teach each other the songs.

20 minutes later I had 6 interested pupils arranged in a standing chorus, reading the lyrics (in English) off of my notebook (while trying to get them to understand me through my American accent). I wish I could say it was a success.

It was a monumental undertaking for them,

it was a surreal moment for us all,

but when the tonal chaos of the exercise finally ended, the boys pulled out a harmonium and tabla and we filled the entire Gyanshala with another type of soul music.
______________________________________________________
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Double-Double

We were sitting in our maroon Tata Sumo musing on what we had seen.

2 days of visits to summer camps in Sitamarhi District in the state of Bihar and what had we seen? 7 villages, almost 30 teachers, and hundreds of children.

Now at Jainagar, a village on the Nepalese border, we had arrived just a few minutes late and the camp was just letting out. There were 6 of us and a driver in our team. While half our team had stepped out to talk with the teachers at the camp, Dr. Rukmini Banerji, I, and Manoj of the Pratham Bihar team reflected one our travels.

"They're too much like regular classes," Rukmini, Pratham's North India Director said. "They're not energized enough." I was confused by this statement as I had been overwhelmed by the success of the Bihar camps; there were more children in these camps than any I had seen (90 children were at the Dhostia camp we visited, and they were well-organized and had been split into 5 separate groups based on their comprehension levels)-- but here was Rukmini focusing on how to improve the camps. "We need to spend more time on training our volunteers with summer camp specific activities, so they don't slip into the habit of just teaching a class-- it's summer, this should be fun!"

And just then a thin, 8 year-old boy with books in his hands ran passed our car.

"Want to play a game?" Rukmini asked in Hindi.

The boy stopped, stood up very straight, and looked up at her confusedly. Another boy, running out of the camp, stopped beside his peer and stared up at Rukmini.

"It's called double-double. I'll say a number, then you double it. Ok? Ok: one."

"Two!" the boys shouted out.

"Now double that."

"Four!"

"And next?"

"Eight," the boys said in unison.

By now more children had stopped and joined the game.

"Sixteen!" the group called out.

"After that?"

"Thirty-two!"

A crowd was growing outside Rukmini's open car door, as the number of children double-doubled exponentially faster than the numbers in the game. Taking one of the children's mini-blackboards and chalk, she began to lead another game. Parents and school teachers soon joined the crowd and the laughter as she interacted with the children.

Only minutes after arriving at a summer camp that had already ended for the day, I watched as Pratham's North India Director charmed an entire group of children-- and their community; getting them to stay on passed the end of their scheduled day, while at the same time demonstrating to local teachers how a summer camp could be magnetic, fun, and still educational.

And me? I soaked up the scene. And then with a big smile on my face, I shot this video to share the moment with you all.




After about 30 minutes, we began to pack up to leave, but the children wouldn't let us be. They wanted more games, more questions, more fun! And then as we finally began to drive away, the kids did something that I'd only seen in movies before-- they ran behind our car yelling, laughing, waving to us in pure joy. As we drove off, leaving the tidal wave of Jainagar's children in our wake, I sat back in my chair and was reminded of why I work for Pratham.

______________________________________________________
www.pratham.org
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www.prathamusa.org

Bihar

"24 hours ago I was on the border of India & Pakistan; today I can see Nepal.

I arrived in Delhi from Amritsar last night at 11pm and flew to the capital of Bihar, Patna, this morning at 10am. I'm traveling to the Sitamarhi District (which borders on Nepal) with Pratham North India Director, Rukmini Banerji, who helps coordinate Pratham's Bihar programs and is my mentor on this project.

On the plane this morning (while half-asleep, but don't tell her...) I interviewed Ma'am about the Bihar summer camp program and Pratham's history in Bihar. Here's a condensed version of the interview:

A great intro to Pratham's work in Bihar is available at the PrathamUK YouTube channel (narrated by the best voice I've ever heard in my life):

Pratham in Bihar

(http://www.youtube.com/PrathamUK)

Pratham's first venture into summer camps was in the summer of 2006 in Bihar (touched on in the film above). These camps were for girls ; girls who had not been to school before and for girls who were in school but were not able to read fluently. The 2006 summer camps were carried out jointly by three partners: Bihar Education Project (BEP, which is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Ministry of the Bihari Government), Pratham, and UNICEF. Throughout the summer vacation in June, these summer camps ran in 2 blocks of every district in Bihar.

The successful experience of the summer camps led Pratham, BEP, and UNICEF to work in a more long-run partnership. A larger joint program called "Sankalp" was launched in late 2006 in 7 of Bihar's most educationally weak districts. The aim of Sankalp was to improve basic learning levels and ensure that all children were enrolled in school and attending regularly. Pratham integrated its Read India campaign into Sankalp. In 2008, 10 more districts have been added to the Sankalp program.

For the 2008 summer camps in Bihar, the target groups are children in Std 3, 4 and 5 who are not yet able to read sentences or do simple arithmetic operations. The aim is that by the time regular schools open in July, children who had fallen behind academically will have made up lost ground. To reach this goal, 2 government school teachers or para-teachers will work in school during the summer and will be joined by 1-2 village volunteers who have been mobilized by Pratham. While government summer camps will run in all schools in the state; in 20 districts, Pratham teams will serve as volunteers while other Pratham members will constantly visit schools, observing camps and supporting teachers and volunteers.

Bihar has 37 districts and about 65,000 government primary schools. Pratham has a presence in 19 districts and has mobilized close to 50,000 volunteers - 1 or 2 village volunteers in each one of 30,000 villages/schools. In all summer camps should benefit close to 3.5 million children across the state.

Side-note highlight of the day:
During a large meeting this evening with all Sitamarhi Block Coordinators, I noticed one Block Coordinator wearing a purple t-shirt with the words "Apes Never Kill Apes" on it-- a reference to The Planet of the Apes movies... I didn't know that the Pratham Bihar team was so well-versed in late 60s American sci-fi cinema....
______________________________________________________
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Golden Temple at Amritsar

While in Amritsar I went to visit the Golden Temple in the evening. The Temple is a spectacular site, a golden island shining at the center of a lake of water and worshippers. Just incredible.

______________________________________________________
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List of Punjabi Villages Visited

Hard work pays off.

That's me in the red, hitting for six.

After a week of hard work, we were able to fit a little cricket in. As for my travels over this last week, I thought it would be nice to list the names of all the villages I visited in Punjab in one place. Maybe someone reading this is from one of these villages? Maybe not...


District: Ludhiana
Block: Ludhiana II
Villages:
-Hassanpur
-Bhadowal
-Jhandeh
-Threeke



District: Gurdaspur
Block: Pathankot
Villages:
-Jhanjheli
-Pangoli
-Chhaki

Block: Dhariwal I
Villages:
-Rania
-Santanagar

Block: Pathankot I
Villages:
-Dhangror

Block: Batalla II
Villages:
-Kandial
-Kotlipansingh
-Bhadrepure


District: Amritsar
Block: Amritsar I
Villages:
-Ramapura
-Chitrakhurp
-Mahama

Block: Amritsar VI
Villages:
-Pandori
-Chatiwind

______________________________________________________
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Final Day in Ludhiana

Yesterday was my final day in Ludhiana, and it coincided with the monthly meeting of all Pratham District Coordinators (PDCs) in Punjab meeting with the two State Head Directors, Bharatdeep Singh Malhi and Ronald Abraham, with whom I’d been working and staying with in Ludhiana. The Pratham Punjab program is just about 2 years old and has recently ratcheted up their work dramatically preparing for Parrho Punjab (the local version of Read India) which will work very closely with the State Ministry of Education in order to improve education dramatically across the state.

The breadth of this program is unbelievable, for example: Pratham Punjab recently hired almost 150 more Block Coordinators in the span of a few weeks when the government agreed to fully participate in the program.

It is worth noting that during my time in Ludhiana I witnessed Ronald and Bharat's extraordinary commitment and exceptional work. Ronald has a BA in Economics from St. Stephens College at Delhi University (which people—Stephanians at least—claim is the Harvard of India) and worked for a policy think-tank in Delhi before joining the Pratham national Research/Analysis group and was vital to the success of the 2006 & 2007 ASER reports, in addition to numerous other projects.

Like Ron, Bharatdeep’s 2-year anniversary with Pratham is at the end of this July. Bharat was born and raised in Ludhiana, and completed a BA in Economics/Geography/English and an MA in Geography. After this he received a scholarship from the Norwegian government to get his MPhil in Developmental Studies from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Three days after he finished in Norway he returned to Ludhiana to begin work as the first State Head of Pratham Punjab.

See both of these passionate men talk more about Pratham’s work in Punjab below:

At the end of a long day of meetings with Pratham District Coordinators, Ron and Bharat presented a certificate to Baljinder Singh of Gurdaspur District for Outstanding work as a PDC. The certificate and a 500 Rs. prize is given out monthly to a deserving PDC to encourage quality work for the PDCs (who all work full time for Pratham).

After this meeting ended Baljinder and I left for Gurdaspur where we would visit more summer camps.

______________________________________________________
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Summer Camps in Ludhiana District, Punjab

Today I set out with Ajay Singh, a Pratham Punjab state-support member, to visit Pratham summer camps in the rural Ludhiana II Block of Ludhiana District (states are split administratively into Districts and then Blocks).

Our goal was to visit four villages to see four summer camps. We hadn’t given the camps any advanced notice that we were coming; these were surprise visits meant to see how the camps were really operating day-to-day.

Before I talk more about the actual visits, here are some details about Pratham summer camps:

• They emphasize teaching literacy (in local language), numeracy, and creating a fun atmosphere, with students learning through games and play—it is summer break…
• Last about 1 month long; 2 hours a day, 6 days a week
• Most take place during May or June, with a couple in July
• Student assessments are done at the beginning and end of the summer camp in order to determine student abilities (and therefore what and growth (if anyone is interested in hearing more about how we assess students please just leave a comment asking).
• Taught by volunteer teachers (recruited by Pratham "mobilizers"), with support by Pratham District Coordinators, Pratham Block Coordinators.

The camps we saw in Ludhiana II Block were operating out of government schools and ran from 9-11am. Most families in this area make a living as farmers or laborers. We visited four camps in Hassanpur, Bhadowal, Jhandeh, and Threeke and while each camp was unique in its own way, the most noteworthy one was in Hassanpur.

We arrived at the Hassanpur camp at 8:50am, and though it was humid, it was rather pleasant as there was a cool breeze in the air. What we found was also pleasant-- students had arrived early and had already begun learning. Ajay and I watched as the classroom filled up with 20 students ages 5-8, who read a paragraph word by word as a Pratham volunteer teacher lead them through it on the board. The classroom was well-maintained, had 2 new fully-functioning overhead fans in it, and a very sweet blackboard—a giant green apple painted on the front wall (pictures on the right).

After observing for about 15 minutes we moved next door to a Pratham-Bharti library, decorated, almost floor to ceiling, with drawings made by the students. A Pratham volunteer oversaw the classroom of 26 students each with a Pratham book in hand. The students read aloud quietly to themselves creating a wonderfully warm sound—an excited buzzing which bordered on the intensity of prayer. Ajay and I looked at each other and couldn’t help but smiling.

(Hassanpur, Pratham Library)

(Threeke, Posters on the wall)

(Threeke, Pratham class)

(Threeke, Pratham shop game)

(Bhadowal, Government multiplication tables on interior wall of school)

Side note highlight of the day:

Today I saw a sign for a place advertised as a “Canadian restaurant.”
Canadian restaurant?
I've never been to a place that serves "Canadian" cuisine. Anyone out there been to one? Or even better has anyone ever had Canadian bacon in Punjab?

Tomorrow:
To Gurdaspur, northernmost district of Punjab, which borders on Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan.

_____________________________________________________
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Project Overview

On Friday afternoon I met with Pratham's North India Director, Rukmini Banerji, and Pratham's Founder, Madhav Chavan, to talk about the scope of my summer project. These were some of the most exciting hours of my last year...

Essentially they've asked me to help document Pratham's summer camps. Operating in about 18 of 26 Indian states in all parts of the country-- from Punjab, to Assam, to Tamil Nadu, to Gujarat, this will be an ambitious and enormous undertaking. In addition to trying to capture this massive movement of change as it happens, they've asked me to try to identify problems while out on my travels, in order to help improve the programs we run.

Given free reign to critically explore any program in the country as well as a mandate to make it to as many states as possible, I am looking forward to getting to capturing how Pratham's progress this summer affects individual children, families, communities, and the country.

The first stop? Off to Ludhiana, Punjab.

More soon...

P
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Safe in Delhi

I safely arrived in Delhi today. I will head into the Delhi Safdarjang Enclave office soon to meet with Pratham's North India director, Dr. Rukmini Banerjee. But before I get into the details of the work I'll be doing this summer it might be good to fill some of my bio/background.

I was born and raised in Skokie, Illinois a northern suburb of Chicago and then attended Washington University in St. Louis, studying International Studies & Drama. After graduating in September 2006 I moved to Delhi to work for Pratham. I spent a year working primarily on Research/Evaluation, including number crunching for ASER 2006 and I also spent much of my focus on a pilot survey, PAHELI, commissioned by the UNDP.

After completing a very enjoyable year with Pratham in Delhi I returned to Washington University in St. Louis to work for the International and Area Studies Program. In addition to this I served as Pratham's "International Internship Coordinator" essentially acting as the liaison between Pratham and non-Indian citizens interested in working for Pratham.

Now, Pratham & Pratham USA have brought me back to India to help document and evaluate 2008 summer camps in India.

That's the short bio-- if you're interested in more, my biodata is available on: ABCDmatrimonials.

That was a joke.

Pushkar

www.pratham.org
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Welcome!

Welcome to "Every Child In School and Learning Well," this blog takes the name of Pratham's motto, which calls to do just that.

Please read along as I visit and write on a variety of Pratham summer camps being run across India from June-August. For those who don't know, Pratham is India's largest education NGO and has a wide network of programs operating throughout India (www.pratham.org/presence/default.php) which broadly fall into two categories: A) empowering and assisting local volunteers to directly teach literacy and numeracy to children (most of whom are not enrolled in a formal school) and B) a "catalytic" approach which aims to work with State/District/local government to advocate for better education policy, teaching training, etc.

More on Pratham and the summer camps soon.*

I write now from Skokie, IL, USA where I was born and raised, but will leave to Delhi to continue working with the wonderful people at Pratham. I'd love to write more about myself, but there's no time now, so I'll reveal that info slowly to keep you coming back...


Pushkar



*in case you can't wait, please visit:
www.pratham.org
www.readindia.org
www.prathamusa.org

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