Ahmedabad - 12th Jan 2010

Explaining to the station guard at 5am that it was really necessary for me to have four accomplices to help me board the train – my translator, driver, bag carrier and general protector – was at first a challenge… But once I’d charmed him with my awful Hindi the initially moody guard lightened up! As ever a crowd formed and when they learnt I was on the way to Gujarat, the neighbouring province, they started teaching me some essential phrases. Yes, that’s right, moving just 15km North means a new language to master… or not! In Gujarat, 60% of population work in agriculture, 25% in small industry, such as textiles and stone carving, and the remaining 15% are non-contracted casual workers in heavy industry meaning great uncertainty for a large number of Gujarati
families.

No ‘4-wheeler’ to collect me this time: I was sent the directions to the Pratham Centre near Ahmedabad by text. Instructions looked quite clear to me, apparently not. After a wild rickshaw ride with Balthasar and Patrick, who I’d met on the bus to Aurangabad, the driver proudly pulled up and announced ‘school’. Indeed it was a school, just not the one we were after! But ‘no problem’ the headmaster of the school kindly stopped his lesson and accompanied us to the Pratham Centre along a maze of winding alleyways.

The Pratham Centre, set up in 2005 is, unlike the projects I’ve seen so far, completely independent. The centre runs two daily sessions from 9-11am and 1-3pm (for children who attend the afternoon and morning government classes respectively) from ages 6 to 12 teaching Gujarati, Maths, Environmental Sciences and Health and Hygiene classes. Children are tested once every 6 months to monitor their progress. Quite unlike my village visits, when I entered the classroom the children hardly noticed me as they were so absorbed in counting straws as part of their Maths class. 11am came and the first session scurried off to their government schools.

Sitting on mats on the tiled floor, pencil sharpenings surrounding us, Gauri, the centre head, told me how she has seen the centre grow from just 10 pupils to serving over 100 today. The objectives of the centre are to give all children the chance to benefit from the same quality of tuition that they would receive in a private school. Every 6 months, Gauri and her team go out into the community of 1200 families to expand the centre’s reach. Testing children in their home shows parents what their children current level of reading, writing and comprehension is and what could be attained if the child attended Pratham’s classes on a daily basis. Foram, a 9 year old in the third standard, is an example of a star student who over the past four years has continually excelled in the government system as a result of Pratham’s tuition. As the afternoon class arrived I glanced over to the adjoining room to see Patrick and Balthasar actively attempting to teach the children ‘have you ever seen a penguin come to tea?’ Bemused but enthusiastic as ever, all the children, me included, learnt a new song that day!

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www.pratham.org
www.pratham.org.uk
www.prathamusa.org