Pratham partners with Verizon India to better ‘Early Years’ education for 2000 students in Telangana

Pratham Education Foundation, a prominent non-profit working towards children literacy interventions across 23 states and union territories, has partnered with Verizon India to offer ‘Early Years’ program to 25 schools in Bandlaguda, Hyderabad, Telangana.

The Early Years Program consists primarily of intervention with two age groups – Balwadi for pre-school (3 to 5 years) and Balvachan for Grades 1 & 2. The Program also encourages mothers’ involvement in enriching education in the formative years. Pratham’s "direct" program, Balwadi, entails a woman from the locality running a preschool centre in a community space or within schools. The Balwadi teachers are trained by Pratham teams and all activities conducted in the Balwadis help with developmental goals-physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, language and creative. Balvachan focuses not only on literacy & numeracy instruction for Std.1 & 2, but also on building and sustaining interest in reading and writing for their own enjoyment and communication.

Ms. Sunita Burra, Program Head Telangana, Pratham Education Foundation and Ms. Kalyani Sekar, Vice President and Managing Director, Verizon India, flagged off the ‘Early Year’s program today at Government Primary School, Ayodhyanagar, BandlagudaTelangana. Thisprogram will provide 2000 underprivileged children fundamental learning skills in their primary school years.Speaking on the initiative, Mrs. Sunita Burra, Program Head Telangana, Pratham Education Foundation said “It is a privilege to partner with Verizon India, with the vision of supporting "Early Years" education to lay foundation for the success of children in later years of their schooling.”

Ms. Kalyani Sekar, VP & MD, Verizon India, said, “It is very fulfilling to partner with an organization augmenting the effectiveness of early schooling in India. We are confident that Pratham’s “Early Years” program will help maximize the power of basic education.”

About Verizon India

Verizon India, an IT & Technology GIC (Global In-house Center) that operates out of Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ). Established in the year 2001, Verizon India supports Verizon’s domestic wireless and wireline businesses in the US as well as its global Enterprise Solutions business (VES).

About Pratham Education Foundation:

Pratham was established in 1995 with the mission of “Every child is in school and learning well”. Pratham started out by establishing community pre-schools in the urban slums of Mumbai and has grown both in scope and geographical coverage, catering to all age group of students from pre-school till young adults. Today, Pratham has interventions across 23 states and union territories in India. Pratham has been the recipient of many national and international awards such as the Kravis Prize and the Skoll Award for its innovativeness and leadership as a social entrepreneurial organization in the area of education and in 2012 the Co-Founder and former CEO – Dr. Madhav Chavan – received the WISE prize for Education which is likened to be the “Nobel Prize for Education”.