Pratham

Every Child in School & Learning WellBy Group 2

Ashish Behl, Ashish GargDevender S Pal, Dinesh KumarHoni Jain, VS Arun KumarVikram Razdan

Agenda Context of the case Case Synopsis Malaise affecting Education in India Pratham – an overview Evolution of Pratham PEST analysis of Pratham A look at other initiatives in education sector Pratham at Crossroads Analysis of alternatives available to Pratham & Our

Recommendation Update on Pratham References

Context

Abysmal record of India in education sector Challenge of reaching quality education to

underprivileged children Pioneering efforts by Pratham in education

sector – conceived and spearheaded by Madhav Chavan and Farida Lambay

Pratham initiative - From modest start in 1994 to reaching 20 M children annually by 2009

Case Synopsis Case chronicles the growth of Pratham from an initiative with

a seed money of $15000 to a $15 Million per annum

Pratham has transformed from being a service delivery network in slums and schools to: Learning methodology innovator Impacting Government Policy and Practice Training Resource to Government

Some of the environmental factors impacting Pratham are: In 2002, elementary education became a fundamental right of every

child In 2008, Right to Compulsory and Free Education legislation passed in

parliament Spending on education increased from $4.1B(1990-91) to

$28.8B(2006-07) State has funded schools and not schooling

Case Synopsis…contd

Some of the fundamental questions that the founder is confronted with are: How should Pratham define success? Whether it should be Implementer or Incubator of new ideas How long should Pratham exist? Are they really required? Are they providing value? Can it sustain the cash flow? Impact on the ongoing initiatives of Pratham withdrawing?

Some of the challenges being faced by Pratham are: Efforts being duplicated with some of the Government initiatives Quality education still elusive Recession in 2009 may dry up funding

Malaise affecting Education in India More than 25% teacher positions vacant Half of those employed as teachers actually work Lack of accountability and political power to

teachers Lack of standardization due to education being

subject to both central & state legislation Weak academic support network (institutes,

NGOs etc.) Poor implementation of policies and programmes

Pratham – an Overview Pratham’s Mission – Every child in school and learning well An NGO - objective to provide quality education to the

underprivileged children in India Established in Mumbai in 1994 with the support of UNICEF,

Municipal Corp of Greater Mumbai and individual contributions

In the span of 15 years, expanded to 21 states and 100 districts

Touched the lives of more than 500,000 children daily and 20 million annually

Fund raising capacity increased to $15 Million / annum Dr Madhav Chavan and Farida Lambay – the co-founders of

Pratham

Pratham – an Overview …contd

Major Initiatives launched since inception: In 1994 Balwadi movement started with 100 Balwadis that later

grew to 4000 in Mumbai Bridge Classes to enable students to join mainstream schools In July 2007 Read India Campaign launched which was learning

to read initiative Annual Status of Education Report published in Jan 2006

Evolution of Pratham over the years

PEST AnalysisPolitical FactorsInclude the nature and extent of government intervention in the economy. Governments have great influence on the health and education of a nation

New Education Policy

- Primary education made free and compulsory - Elementary education, a fundamental right of every child in the country

Integrated Child Development Scheme - A government initiative focused on nutrition and health for preschoolers created risk of duplication of efforts of Balwadis -led to their downscaling

- Pratham shifted its focus to trainings - led to changes in curriculum and skills development of teachers/trainers

Read India - Partnership with/support from the government

- Retain autonomy to be self managing and self financing - Manage poor and inefficient government practices - Manage frequent transfers of government officers Change in Government

- Levy of education cess and desire for greater transparency and accountability led to the publication of ASER

PEST AnalysisEconomic Factors Economic Growth, Interest Rates, Inflation Rates and Exchange Rates are key economic factors

that influence and impact an organization's strategic and operational decisions. Central or local government funding decisions Government’s commitment to education spending ($28.8 bn or 3.7% of GDP in 06-07) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan – Access to primary education to all Mid day meal scheme – Free meals to every child in school Public - Private Partnerships Pratham’s planned spending in 2008 - $20 million (0.1 % of government spending) Increased reliance on global donors, (80% of Pratham’s budget) coupled with the Global

Recession and cause specific donors impacted funding plans in 2008 Risk of highly valued, key staff moving on to better opportunities from more up and coming

schools and institutions Rising cost of providing resources:

Staff – teaching, trainings & support volunteers Basics – books and notebooks Technology solutions ( $35 laptop in pipeline)

PEST Analysis Social Factors Include the cultural aspects and demographics (population growth rate, age distribution,career attitudes, gender equality, health and safety) Demographic changes will affect student rolls or the nature of student needs Local population changes (increasing/decreasing numbers) Citizen’s Initiative and increased social networking drives Inclusive local participation key to development and success Integration with local community and student needs Open platform NGO and a volunteer driven organization Informal work culture based on trust and collaboration High Self esteem for volunteers Growth enabler for trained staff and volunteers Key challenges - To drive value in to the future? - To change form or not? - To institutionalize or not? - What is the measure of success?

PEST AnalysisTechnological Factors Include technological aspects like research and development, automation, technology incentives ($35 laptop) and the rate of technological change orobsolescence Increased government spending on education research and tax initiatives Research dictated changes to standards, equipments and skills Equipping teachers with the appropriate tools and learning methods Dedicated content development team Technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and drive innovation. Move from paper based books and reading cards to e-books/cards – The Future

beckons Increase reliance on technology in imparting education Computer Assisted Learning programme

Initiatives similar to the Pratham Projects in India• Have projects focussing on the education for the

unprivileged • Vision and mission statements bring out similarities• Projects:

– Plan India– Smile foundation– Asha for Education– VOICE

• Other projects running at smaller levels, spanning lesser grounds. – Aim at providing education facilities only to a restricted area,

comprising of one to a few states and sometimes, specific social groups.

Plan India Part of an international organization – Plan international

formed after Spanish civil war in 1937; working in 68 countries. Plan India formed in 1979

Plan India today operates in around 11 Indian cities, covering 3,000 communities

Initial focus on sponsoring children in need evolved from its role as a passive player to that of an

actively involved organization, working directly with these children for the overall aim of betterment of the society

Vision: A world in which all children realise their full potential in societies which respect people’s rights and dignity

Plan India Empower the underprivileged children and their families with their

involvement in all the phases of a project

Child centred community development - based on the approach to support communities to develop an environment where children can realize their full potential.

Also, Focus on Girl child through “economic empowerment of girl child” because I am a girl campaign.

Door Steps Schools “Balwadis” or playschools for the children between 3-6 years of age. Extra coaching for the children upto 4th grade. “Non-Formal education”

Smile foundation

Founded in 2002 by a group of corporate professionals

Functional in around 20 Indian states today Catering to more than 1 lakh underprivileged

children Vision/Mission: helping the underprivileged

children to become a part of mainstream by educating them

Smile foundation

Mission Education - focussing on education for underprivileged, including both children and youth

Partnerships with small NGOs Identifying innovative grassroot initiaves reviewing the background/commitment providing supportHelping these NGOs sustain their initiatives.

Asha for Education

• Founded in 1991 by a group of students from India

• Vision - Education key catalyst in development of a country

• Present in 24 states in India - more than 385 different projects

• 1000 workers, 400 partners and more than a thousand supporters worldwide

Asha for Education

Alternative education schools - focus on holistic education to be imparted to the students from the deprived backgrounds

Assist the children in taking the “mainstream government exams”

AFE provides resources to train the teachers, pay salaries and sometimes fund the education programme

Examples of some schools: A.K. Montessori School providing education to the

underprivileged neighbourhood of vranasi, UP Bala Mitra Badis (Tribal Community Schools).

Pratham at Crossroads Defining and measuring success for the

programmes and initiatives Standing at cross roads – future of ‘Pratham’ -

whether Pratham should retain ‘executive’ role or move on to ‘ideation’ role and letting others implement

If yes, who are these ‘others’ and their competence & capability to fulfill the objectives

In short, how to reinvent Pratham?

Way forward for Pratham - Alternatives Alternative 1 – retain an ‘executive’ cum

‘advisory’ role & include higher education in its ambit

Alternative 2 – graduate fully to policy making and supervisory role, leaving the ‘executive’ role to other organisations

Alternative 3 – vacate education space altogether and focus on some other priority sector viz. healthcare

Alt 1: retain an ‘executive’ cum ‘advisory’ role & include higher education in its ambit

Pros Positive impact both on actual ground level

campaign and policy making Pratham’s inspirational leadership – facilitates

smooth functioning and liaising with govt. bodies Pratham’s extra-ordinary ability to mobilise fundsCons Under-utilization of Pratham’s capabilities Weariness at top may impact momentum

Alt 2 – graduate fully to policy making and supervisory role, leaving the ‘executive’ role to other organisations

Pros Role as an enabler – will help Pratham move faster

towards its mission of education for all children More focus on innovation – free up Pratham’s resources

to focus fully on the innovative learning methodsCons Risk of movement losing its momentum – due to

leadership vacuum Funds may be difficult to mobilise

Alt 3 – vacate education space altogether and focus on some other priority sector viz. healthcare

Pros Replicating the model in other priority sectors can

bring significant results Growth possibilities for second tier leadership in

education sectorCons Total withdrawal might derail the movement in

education sector Pratham’s mission in education sector still not full

realised – hence it may be a premature decision

Our recommendation

We recommend Pratham to continue with Alternative 1 in medium term (3-5 years) with added scope of higher education and to scale up the reach further, build up effective programme monitoring and regulatory mechanisms for sustainability of the initiative before moving up in the value chain and acquiring fully the role of an ‘enabler’, ‘policy advisor’ and ‘supervisor’.

Pratham – an Update on New Initiatives English Programme

The English Programme targets children in the age group of 8-14 years and helps build their basic conversational skills

Computer Aided LiteracyThe objective of this program is 1) To impact children’s basic learning levels using IT 2) To give them relevant IT knowledge and skills.

Vocational Skills programme This program is targeted at the economically

disadvantaged youth in the 18-30 year age group

Read India II - This campaign focuses on higher levels of academic content. The campaign will also reach out to children of Std VI-VIII.

Urban Learning Centres - Dedicated space where existing programmes will operate and new ones for higher learning will be developed

Pratham – an Update on New Initiatives

References www.pratham.org accessed Aug. 31, 2010 http://www.ashanet.org/ accessed Aug. 30, 2010 http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project_type.php accessed Aug.

30,2010 http://www.planindia.org/ accessed Aug. 31, 2010 http://www.planindia.org/images/

Plan_India_Annual_Report_2009.pdf accessed Aug. 31, 2010 http://www.smilefoundationindia.org accessed Sept. 1, 2010 http://ngogateway.com/corporate-social-responsibility/smile-

foundation/ accessed Aug. 31, 2010 http://www.developednation.org/issue/education/campaigns/

index.htm accessed Sept. 2, 2010