Nine-year-old Rupali and her classmates attending a lesson with volunteer teacher, Monalisa at one of Pratham’s summer school catch-up programmes in Odisha, India
Your incredible generosity plays a crucial role in helping children in India address learning gaps and gives them the skills and confidence to thrive at school and build a brighter future. On behalf of everyone at Pratham UK, thank you!鈥�
We鈥檙e immensely grateful for the overwhelming support from Radio 4 Appeal listeners who helped us to raise an amazing 拢26,756.77! Because of the generosity of 成人快手 Radio 4 listeners, 26,758 children have been able to attend one of Pratham鈥檚 2024 summer school catch-up programmes
The appeal, presented by acclaimed broadcaster, journalist and children鈥檚 education advocate, Sangita Myska, shared Rupali鈥檚 inspiring story. Nine-year-old Rupali had only learned to read simple words and recognise the numbers one to nine. This is common in rural India where around half of children reach class five unable to read a text intended for a child in class two. When Rupali鈥檚 school couldn鈥檛 meet her individual needs she struggled to keep up and became scared of going to school and stayed at home with her mother, losing her motivation for learning.
This is where Pratham came in. Our summer school catch-up camps group children of a similar learning level, regardless of their age, those that can read a paragraph, a sentence, a word, a letter or nothing at all, with similar groups for maths. Volunteers from the community are then supported to offer our catch-up programme in the school holidays. By the end of Pratham鈥檚 summer holiday catch-up programme, Rupali could read age-appropriate stories and do subtractions. She returned to school with confidence and now dreams of becoming a police officer.
To find out more about Pratham UK and how your support makes a difference to children across India, please click