Pratham Education Foundation

My Visit to a Pratham ULC

By Sagar Patel

During a recent trip to India, I visited a Pratham urban learning center in the Santa Cruz area of Mumbai. Before entering the learning center, I was greeted by Yashaswini Kumar from the Pratham Mumbai head office. When we first entered, she showed me a Balwadi (preschool) class where young children from age 3-6 were playing games in a lively manner.  They were very adorable.  Afterwards, we went to see a library class where students were silently reading different books.  I had visited classes at a Pratham Ahmedabad urban learning center just a few days earlier, so I did not spend as much time here.

 The most interesting part of the visit for me was interviewing Bharti, who is the central coordinator in charge of reporting to donors regarding the programs in several urban learning centers. I interviewed her with questions about what type of documentation is required for the urban learning centers.  She confirmed that the cost per urban learning center is a little less than $10,000 and was able to break down specific expenses.  We went over the types of classes held at the center, whether they charge students to attend classes, and information that donors typically request.  I was very impressed at their ability to document whatever is requested for donors as well as the flexibility to fund a learning center in a place requested by the donor such as one’s native town.

In terms of value for the money, Pratham’s programs are extremely cost effective.  Extensive use of volunteers and existing building infrastructure helps reduce costs and make funding go farther.  There is an increasing focus on self sustainability of programs by charging fees to attend an urban learning center which makes sure that the local community has a stake in the program.  I would strongly recommend that more people from India or other countries visit a program and see for themselves the impact of Pratham’s work.