Note that fewer than 5% of the charities we have considered have received a star. Only organizations that have distinguished themselves in our process receive stars.
Pratham is a large, India-based organization that runs a wide variety of programs aiming to improve education for children in India.
- For more on Pratham's programs, see the programs page on its website.
- For more on this cause, see our overview of developing-world education programs.
We believe that Pratham is notable because:
Pratham is a standout for its commitment to transparency and rigorous monitoring and evaluation, which appear particularly rare within the area of developing-world education. Pratham has partnered with the Poverty Action Lab at MIT (J-PAL) to evaluate several of its programs. These include its:
- Balsakhi remedial tutoring in Vadodara, India1
- Computer-assisted learning2
- Balwadi deworming program3
- Raising awareness and local participation in education4
In addition, Pratham is undergoing an evaluation of its Read India program.5
Dr. Madhav Chavan, Pratham co-founder and Director of Programs, told us (in a phone conversation) that a significant portion of Pratham's programming is devoted to programs that have not been rigorously evaluated (or are modified versions of evaluated programs.)
Therefore, despite the commendable and relatively large number of impact evaluations Pratham has conducted, we are not confident in Pratham's overall impact. Nevertheless, for donors interested in the cause of developing-world education, we have found no organization stronger than Pratham.
Sources
- Phone conversation with Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder and Director of Programs, 5/8/09.
- Poverty Action Lab original site. Available at http://www.povertyactionlab.com/, accessed 7/7/09.
- Pratham original site. Available at http://www.pratham.org/, accessed 7/8/09.
- 1.
Poverty Action Lab's Evaluation of Balsakhi remedial tutoring in Vadodara, India. Available at http://povertyactionlab.org/projects/project.php?pid=2, accessed 6/30/09
- 2.
Poverty Action Lab's Evaluation of Computer-assisted learning. Available at http://povertyactionlab.org/projects/project.php?pid=6, accessed 6/30/09
- 3.
Poverty Action Lab's Evaluation of Balwadi deworming program. Available at http://povertyactionlab.org/projects/project.php?pid=23, accessed 6/30/09
- 4.
Poverty Action Lab's Evaluation of Raising awareness and local participation. Available at http://povertyactionlab.org/projects/project.php?pid=43, accessed 6/30/09
- 5.
Phone conversation with Dr. Madhav Chavan, Pratham co-founder and Director of Programs, 5/8/09. This is confirmed by the grant announcement on the Hewlett Foundation website (http://www.hewlett.org/news/the-hewlett-and-gates-foundations-award-9-mi..., accessed 6/30/09):
"Sixty million children in India will get added help in basic math, reading and writing from the non-profit organization Pratham, thanks in part to a $9.1 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett and Bill & Melinda Gates foundations, Pratham leaders announced today... The grant also will support: a rigorous evaluation of the Read India program, the large-scale expansion of a model to rapidly improve learning levels of children in language, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences and life skills, and an evaluation of individual learning outcomes."
