Education Outlook for West Bengal 2011

According to the 2010 ASER Report, only 50-60% of children in Std. III can read Std. I text, and only 40-50% of children in Std. III can do subtraction.

At higher level competencies, the situation is worse, with only 30-40% of children in Std. V being able to do division.

Pratham in West Bengal this Year

Geographical Coverage: 677 villages across 8 BEPs
Children Reached: 23,649
Volunteers Mobilized: 1,311

• Pratham is currently running the ‘Read India’ (RI) program through 8 BEPs. In absence of formal written consent from the state government, Pratham has reached 677 villages to teach 23,649m children, through its Read India Program. Read India West Bengal operates in collaboration with local government, such as Panchayats and school officials, where local governing bodies have officially sought Pratham’s assistance on curriculum-design as well as training in some districts.
• Pratham’s efforts extend beyond the classroom, reaching parents and local officials through meetings and melas to encourage communities and Village Panchayats (committees) to focus on learning outcomes. Meetings are regularly held with district and block administrations to update them on the progress of the program and social events (such as meetings with local officials, and academic competitions for the children) are held to test children as well as to encourage the community to participate in the education of their children.
• In the Coochbihar district, where Pratham runs a BEP in the Mathabhanga-I block, the Coochbihar Sarva Siksha Mission invited Pratham to train district and block level SSA personnel on reading development.

Future Plans

In addition to the Read India Classes, Pratham has recently launched its ‘Education for Education’ Centres (EFE Centres) 7 centres have been running as of the first week of March, in all blocks except for the Rangli- Rangliot block in the Darjeeling district. Pratham West Bengal will work to ensure that the EFE program is successfully taken up by volunteers and will also offer new courses such as English in the futute. In addition to this, the next three months in West Bengal will include capacity building practices in its training program for Pratham Block and District coordinators, as well as for its volunteers.