Pratham began operations in Delhi in 1999 and the Pratham Delhi Education Initiative was established in 2000. In the initial years, PDEI provided pre-school education to children in some areas of East Delhi and Bridge classes to mainstream out-of school children aged 6-14 years. Over the years the program has expanded to cover 6 out of the 12 MCD zones of the city and several new interventions have been introduced. In the last 4 years, PDEI has been working closely with the MCD and has started libraries in over 850 schools. The libraries are used both to improve the basic reading, writing an arithmetic skills of the children as well as provide them access to colorful books.

The key programs running in Delhi are:

School Based Programs
The Libraries: This is an integrated program for reading, numeracy and learning achievement. As part of this effort, approximately 1500 volunteers are working in about 850 government MCD schools.

English Programme: The English programme is being carried out in a total of 102 schools of Rohini and South Shahdara. The classes are for children in Std III-V in the schools having very high Hindi reading profile enrolling about 26000 children.

Communtiy based programs:
PDEI is running Balwadis and libraries in the communities. Last year PDEI also signed a MoU with the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of NCT Delhi to integrate the Balwadis with government’s Anganwadi. Under the agreement, Balwadi volunteers conduct preschool activities in Anganwadis every day for about one hour

Women’s Literacy Program: In Delhi, Pratham also runs a Women’s Literacy Program that aims at increasing literacy and numeracy among women and sensitize mothers so that they participate actively in the PTA of the schools in which their children go to. The program reached out to approximately 500 women aged 14 years and above.

Scholarship program: Operational with children of 75 Municipal schools, the programme is helping out those children of Std IV and V who are appearing for Scholarship exam. Pratham volunteers have been placed in these schools and are helping around 3000 children prepare for the exams.

Balshramik (Back to School) classes: There are 4 BTS classes running covering approximately 90 children. These classes aim at providing working children bridge education and mainstreaming them into schools.

Improvements in reading skills of children in 2008-09

 

The percentage of children who could not read decreased from 58% in the ore test to 11% in the post test. The percentage of children who could read a word increased from 7% in the pre test to 25% in the post test.

Improvements in numeracy skills of children in 2008-09

The percentage of children who could recognize numbers increased from 18% in pre test to 26% in post test. The percentage f children who can do subtraction increased from 9% in pre test to 22% in the post test.