Awards & Recognition

Pratham’s Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) has been named a finalist solution in the prestigious 100&Change global competition. Launched by the MacArthur Foundation and managed by Lever for Change, 100&Change is a highly competitive global initiative to fund a bold solution to a critical challenge. The proposal was presented by a consortium of partners comprising Pratham Education Foundation, Pratham International, Pratham USA, and Empower Learning Africa (TaRL Africa).

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Pratham has been selected as a Laureate of the Yashraj Bharati Samman 2025 in the category of Transforming People’s Lives. Instituted by the Yashraj Research Foundation (YRF), the Yashraj Bharati Award recognises and honours social leadership working towards the holistic development of the people of this country. The Transforming People’s Lives category especially highlights efforts in the fields of education, livelihood, nutrition, and sustainable development.

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Pratham was awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2021 in recognition of its work to ensure quality education to children across India, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award was presented to Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham, by former Vice President Hamid Ansari in the presence of Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, on November 19, 2022—marking the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Watch Dr. Banerji’s acceptance speech here: https://youtu.be/sRji0sJS1ns?t=869

Pratham CEO Dr. Rukmini Banerji was awarded the 2021 Yidan Prize for Education Development —the world’s highest education accolade—for her work in improving learning outcomes. The Yidan Prize is an inclusive education award that recognizes individuals or teams who have contributed significantly to the theory and practice of education.

With the support of the Yidan Prize, Dr. Banerji plans to strengthen and expand Pratham’s work with young children so that strong foundations can be built early in a child’s life. This will contribute significantly towards our goal of seeing “every child in school and learning well,” she said.

Watch Dr. Banerji talk about Pratham’s work here: https://youtu.be/mYGSvwvgYvY

Every year, Business Today recognizes the Most Powerful Women in the fields of Business and Impact. In 2018, Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham, was featured among the awardees.

Business Today noted, “She has taken a host of initiatives to make elementary education realistic for school children.”

See the full list of winners here: https://www.businesstoday.in/specials/most-powerful-women-2018/photo/the-most-powerful-women-in-business-2018-5722-2018-09-10/43

“Our own values and vision
of making the world a better, more positive place are very similar to that of
the Prize, and this generous honor from an international award will greatly
support the work of Pratham in continuing to promote quality education to the
children who are most in need.”

— Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO
of the Pratham Education Foundation 

“[Pratham] started in 1995, but even in 2017 they are very relevant in the journey. They continue to excel in what they are doing, taking it beyond what they have done in the past.”

— Deep Joshi, award jury member and co-founder of Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) 

Since its founding in 1887 to help immigrant children and their families, the College has been a powerful force for social justice, championing education that opens doors, unlocks human potential and debates our society’s most inconvenient truths.  Each year, the College awards the Medal to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to education and human development.

Dr. Madhav Chavan received the ‘Medal for Distinguished Service’, the highest honor bestowed by Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, at the Third Master’s Degree ceremony, Convocation May 2017

Ms.Farida Lambay was awarded the HTForMumbai ‘Changemaker’ title under the ‘Education’ category by the jury and the ‘Popular’ category on 12th January,2016.

“Pratham’s volunteers not only helped rescue child labourers, but also took efforts to reunite the children with their families.”  RAVINDER SINGAL, Inspector General of Police (Training) 

On March 12th, Co-Founders Dr. Madhav Chavan and Ms. Farida Lambay awarded the CSR Leader Award 2015 by CEO INDIA

The international men’s magazine GQ hosts the annual “Men of the Year” Awards in which it recognizes distinguished work done by men in various fields including Philanthropy, and social entrepreneurship. Pratham co-founder Dr. Madhav Chavan was awarded the “Agent of Social Change” Award in the 2015 edition of the event.

“Pratham has expanded the scope of education in resource constrained areas… It has done so through two significant innovations: the creation of simple, accurate and reliable tools for communities to assess learning; and a process that uses scientific evidence to develop new cost-effective programs that drastically improve learning levels.”
— Jury citation

Pratham received the 2014 Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Development Cooperation category for two decades of successfully catering to the learning needs of millions of disadvantaged children.

Dr. Madhav Chavan was named a 2014 Asia Game Changer for giving the gift of literacy to millions of Indian children.

Launched in 2014 by the Asia Society, the awards recognize those leaders contributing to a positive future for Asia in the core areas of policy and business, arts and culture…read more

Ms. Farida Lambay co-founder – Pratham Education Foundation and founder – Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children received the prestigious Sahyadri Navratna Award by Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai for her outstanding contribution in social work and for taking up the issue of child labor and education of underprivileged children.

Dr. Chavan was awarded “The AIMA Public Service Excellence Award” for his contribution to the education sector. He gained recognition for his path breaking initiatives such as “Read India” and “The Annual Status of Education Report” (ASER). He was acknowledged for the scale and effectiveness of the programs.

Pratham USA was awarded the Times of India (TOI) Social Impact Award in the category International Contribution to India. Dr. Atul Varadhachary , President, Pratham USA, received the award. The President of India attended the ceremony amongst other prominent leaders.

Recognizing the significant role of NGOs as influential agents of change on a global scale, The Global Journal identifies NGOs doing impactful work and curates them into a coveted list. Pratham has been named on the list for two years consecutively.

Dr. Madhav Chavan was awarded the Qimpro Award for world class quality practices in an education institution. Qimpro is recognised as India’s premier quality citations. Qimpro Awards highlights achievements of extra ordinary individuals in the area of performance excellence, corporate governance, and social responsibility.

“I had friends working for women’s liberation. I had friends working for the popularization of science. I said to them—none of these things you want to do are possible if people cannot read and write.”
— Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder, Pratham

Pratham co-founder Dr. Madhav Chavan was the recipient of the 2012 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Prize for providing quality education to millions of underserved children in India.

Dr. Madhav Chavan was awarded within the Social Enterprise Category (2010). This award recognizes leaders that have made a difference by carving a niche for themselves and creating an edge above their peers.

“Pratham’s approach to improving educational quality is targeted, cost-effective and sustainable. By collaborating closely with government and local communities, Pratham has shown tremendous results and improved millions of children’s lives.”

— Henry R. Kravis, founding partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and alumnus and trustee, Claremont McKenna College

Pratham was selected as the 2010 winner of the Henry R. Kravis Prize, which recognizes excellence in nonprofit.

Pratham was recognized for its innovation in the education sector via the “Read India” program. The EMPI Group of Institutions initiated the Indian Innovation Awards in 2005 as part of a larger movement entitled “Mission Innovative India.” Former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam commenced this movement.

The CNN-IBN Indian of the Year (originally CNN-IBN Indian of the Year) is an award presented annually to various Indians for their work in their respective fields by the Indian media house CNN-IBN. The awards are presented in various categories of Politics, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Public Service and Global Indian. Pratham received this award for its contribution in the field of literacy and education.

The award was instituted in 2008 by state government to honour the person who is making effort for education in the state especially among poor children. It is the highest award in education field given by Bihar government. Dr. Rukmini Banerji is the first person to receive this award.