Pratham Education Foundation

A Visit to Pratham Gujarat
By Sagar Patel

      It felt like a visit home to return to Pratham Ahmedabad in November 2012 after visiting the head office two years ago.  During this visit, I went to an urban learning center in the Behrampura area of Ahmedabad with Sherin Shabu from the Pratham Gujarat head office.  When I visited, two classes were being taught simultaneously.  Chandrikaben was teaching a grade 3 science class and Bhartiben was teaching a grade 2 Gujarati vocabulary class. 

     

These urban learning center classes supplement normal government classes for children of daily wage earners.  Parents of these children in Behrampura pay Rs. 80 per month for children from balwadis (age 3-6) up to grade 5 in this learning center for their children to attend classes.  I had previously seen only an English language class two years ago, so it was interesting to see the Pratham methodology applied to other subjects.  I was very impressed.   They were using a collaborative model of learning in which students have to verbally repeat the information they have learned.  If a student forgets something, then the other children help that student promoting a spirit of cooperation instead of competition.  This method does not involve rote memorization, and I was surprised that students are actually excited to learn what can be dry material.

There are planning tools which the teachers use to help them plan the classes.  These planning tools help them to adjust for different levels of students.  Also, they develop assessments ahead of time which will be appropriate for children of different levels.  After classes, the teachers do a self review so that they will be able to improve in future classes.  In addition to these planning tools, senior teachers randomly observe teachers teaching their classes and give them suggestions for improvement.  The beauty of this is that this model which is unique to Pratham Gujarat is scaled up and duplicated throughout Gujarat on a huge scale. 

After finishing with the learning center, I went to the Pratham Gujarat head office in Ahmedabad and met with the head of Gujarat programs, Renu Seth, and other staff members.  I asked her questions about the newer programs within Pratham including the livelihood training programs and other things which they are doing in Gujarat.  I also asked about information on the learning centers and documentation which they have to maintain for donors.  They are doing great work to improve the education system in India. This seemed to be more of a personal than professional visit.  It felt like visiting my own family, and I was sad to leave and would like to come back to Pratham Ahmedabad in the future.