History

History of Computer Aided Learning Program

Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative was set up in 1994 at the Initiative of UNICEF and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to achieve universal primary and pre-primary education in Mumbai by 2000. Pratham, focused on both large-scale grassroots mobilization and school based initiatives.

Grassroot level community mobilization was important while aiming at universalization of elementary education. Though there were other approaches to supplement, strengthen and shape of achieving this goal. One such approach was Computer Aided Learning in Government schools. Through which, children would get an opportunity to play educational games on computer in Indian languages as part of their weekly timetable.

"Will the schools in 10 years from now be the same kind of brick and mortar schools or will they be different?"

This question was posed in the meeting of the Board of Trustees of Pratham in Mumbai, about two years ago in July 1998. At the time ICICI was phasing out their used 486 machines. ICICI then suggested that they would give Pratham 120 used computers to explore ways to "leap-frog into the 21st century." This is how the Computer Aided Learning (CAL) project came about in Pratham.

Pratham's focus has been to support basic educational services in schools and communities; Pratham also has taken up the challenge of introducing Computer Aided Learning (CAL) and Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) in Municipal schools and within Pratham. Beginning in August 1998, with 112, 486-Dx computers donated by ICICI Ltd. and various corporate donors,

Pratham established 15 Computer Aided Learning Centers around the city. Sanchar was born while Pratham engaged 12,000 children from 54 Municipal Corporation Schools in Mumbai under the Computer Aided Learning (CAL), CIRCA 1998. On reaching the final stages in 2000, Sanchar emerged as a separate entity.

Sanchar InfoTech (�Sanchar"), an offshoot of Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative (www.pratham.org) is an implementer for the Computer Aided Learning (CAL) Program, so as to provide assistance in learning through computers to the underprivileged children from amongst various schools and communities; in exchange to a nominal/ affordable fees. Since its establishment, SIPL has been running Computer Aided Learning Centers in 400 schools and growing by serving about 173,000 school children in the 08 states across India, namely Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Karnataka, for various types of schools and trusts.