Pragathi
Encyclopedia
Pragathi is a US based, registered, non-profit organization
, with a mission to accelerate progress in the areas of literacy
, Women's empowerment, and improving the standard of living
in India
.
The organization's strategy is: "...to bring the best practices and programs to its Focus Areas. Pragathi works with multiple Non-Profit Organizations, picking up on their Core-Competencies and Implementing and Funding to achieve its Mission. For example, in the area of Literacy, Pragathi has partnered with several local Non-profits to reuse their programs..."
The projects they are working on are: Project Indian Ocean, Accelerated Reading Program (ARP) with the Akshara Foundation, Yelahanka
school teacher supplementation, Notebook project with Sikshana
, Drinking water for village schools, Odanadi – half-way home, and Project Pipeline.
Objective: Help improve the school environment by providing desks, benches, library books, teaching and learning material, lab kits, sports equipment etc.
Scope: Twenty five rural government primary schools with appx. 2200 children
Location: 24 towns/ villages in the Kodihalli cluster which is appx 125 km from Bangalore
Budget: $46,000.
Pragathi partnered with Rotary International
in India and in the US on this project. Pragathi’s contribution was raised through the fund raising concert Indian Ocean
in Austin
.
Status: Project implementation in progress
Objective: Improve basic reading skills through the accelerated reading program developed by the Akshara foundation (Pratham
). Pratham
’s research has found that one of the most critical problems facing government school children in India is lack of basic reading skills. Many children are unable to read simple sentences even when they are in grade 7.
Scope: Twenty five rural government primary schools with appx. 2200 children
Location: 24 towns/ villages in the Kodihalli cluster which is appx 125 km from Bangalore
Budget: $1,750
Pragathi has been working with this school for nearly three years and has seen vast improvements in both the school environment and learning levels as indicated by standardized tests.
Objective: Alleviate severe teacher shortage and prevent deterioration in learning levels
Scope: Single government primary school with 225 children. Most of the children belong to families of migrant laborers who are living in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Budget: Appx $1,500 to appoint 2 teachers for an academic year
Status: Two teachers have been appointed
Objective: Strengthen writing skills by providing notebooks
Scope: Children of government primary schools
Budget: Appx $5000
Status: Completed
Objective: Provide drinking water in three government schools by providing connections from the village borehole
.
Location: Remote villages in the clusters of Ane Doddi, Maralavadi and Harohalli
Budget: $200
Status: Field visits with a plumber complete. Expected to be completed in 2008
Pragathi has been supporting Odanadi, a half-way home for women and children rescued from exploitation in India, since 2004.
Objective: Support half-way home for women and children
Location: Mysore, India
Budget: $3,000
Status: Funded
All round improvement in 60 government schools in 4 education clusters. This will be done in several phases.
Accelerated reading program: Based on results of the current program, scale up the accelerated reading program
Accelerated math program: This program aims to improve basic math skills through activity based learning.
Capacity building through teacher training in the district of Chamaraja Nagara which is home to tribal children. Pragathi is in preliminary talks with an NGO in this region.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, with a mission to accelerate progress in the areas of literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
, Women's empowerment, and improving the standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The organization's strategy is: "...to bring the best practices and programs to its Focus Areas. Pragathi works with multiple Non-Profit Organizations, picking up on their Core-Competencies and Implementing and Funding to achieve its Mission. For example, in the area of Literacy, Pragathi has partnered with several local Non-profits to reuse their programs..."
Current projects
Pragathi has 7 current projects (As of March 15, 2009). Some of them are multi-school projects, targeting schools in a specific area, instead of individual schools.The projects they are working on are: Project Indian Ocean, Accelerated Reading Program (ARP) with the Akshara Foundation, Yelahanka
Yelahanka
Yelahanka is a suburb of Bangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka originally envisaged as a satellite town of Bangalore city, but now part of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.-Location:...
school teacher supplementation, Notebook project with Sikshana
Sikshana
Sikshana is a unique grassroots effort at improving learning levels in public schools of developing countries like India. It was started by Sivasri Trust, a small non-profit organization, in Bangalore, India.-The Scaling Challenge:...
, Drinking water for village schools, Odanadi – half-way home, and Project Pipeline.
- Project Indian Ocean:
Objective: Help improve the school environment by providing desks, benches, library books, teaching and learning material, lab kits, sports equipment etc.
Scope: Twenty five rural government primary schools with appx. 2200 children
Location: 24 towns/ villages in the Kodihalli cluster which is appx 125 km from Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
Budget: $46,000.
Pragathi partnered with Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
in India and in the US on this project. Pragathi’s contribution was raised through the fund raising concert Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
.
Status: Project implementation in progress
- Accelerated Reading Program (ARP):
Objective: Improve basic reading skills through the accelerated reading program developed by the Akshara foundation (Pratham
Pratham
Pratham is a non-governmental organisation that works towards the provision of quality education to the underprivileged children in India. Established in Mumbai in 1994 to provide pre-school education to children in slums, it now has activities in 21 states of India and has supporting chapters in...
). Pratham
Pratham
Pratham is a non-governmental organisation that works towards the provision of quality education to the underprivileged children in India. Established in Mumbai in 1994 to provide pre-school education to children in slums, it now has activities in 21 states of India and has supporting chapters in...
’s research has found that one of the most critical problems facing government school children in India is lack of basic reading skills. Many children are unable to read simple sentences even when they are in grade 7.
Scope: Twenty five rural government primary schools with appx. 2200 children
Location: 24 towns/ villages in the Kodihalli cluster which is appx 125 km from Bangalore
Budget: $1,750
- Yelahanka school teacher supplementation:
Pragathi has been working with this school for nearly three years and has seen vast improvements in both the school environment and learning levels as indicated by standardized tests.
Objective: Alleviate severe teacher shortage and prevent deterioration in learning levels
Scope: Single government primary school with 225 children. Most of the children belong to families of migrant laborers who are living in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Budget: Appx $1,500 to appoint 2 teachers for an academic year
Status: Two teachers have been appointed
- Notebook project with Sikshana:
Objective: Strengthen writing skills by providing notebooks
Scope: Children of government primary schools
Budget: Appx $5000
Status: Completed
- Drinking water for village schools:
Objective: Provide drinking water in three government schools by providing connections from the village borehole
Borehole
A borehole is the generalized term for any narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water or other liquid or gases , as part of a geotechnical investigation, environmental site...
.
Location: Remote villages in the clusters of Ane Doddi, Maralavadi and Harohalli
Harohalli
Harohalli is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Mysore taluk of Mysore district in Karnataka.-Demographics:As of 2001 India census, Harohalli had a population of 7888 with 4054 males and 3834 females....
Budget: $200
Status: Field visits with a plumber complete. Expected to be completed in 2008
- Odanadi – half-way home:
Pragathi has been supporting Odanadi, a half-way home for women and children rescued from exploitation in India, since 2004.
Objective: Support half-way home for women and children
Location: Mysore, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Budget: $3,000
Status: Funded
- Project Pipeline:
All round improvement in 60 government schools in 4 education clusters. This will be done in several phases.
Accelerated reading program: Based on results of the current program, scale up the accelerated reading program
Accelerated math program: This program aims to improve basic math skills through activity based learning.
Capacity building through teacher training in the district of Chamaraja Nagara which is home to tribal children. Pragathi is in preliminary talks with an NGO in this region.