Will you #LightaLife this Diwali?

By Pratham Australia community

Diwali – India’s festival of lights, is almost upon us. The lighting of lamps symbolises the victory of light over darkness, of good over evil, of knowledge over ignorance, of hope over despair. The light reminds us, even more poignantly in recent challenges, that however difficult life might seem, there is always hope for better things to come. 

So this Diwali, local charity Pratham Australia is calling on the Indian-Australian community to donate to their #LightaLife Diwali Fundraiser. Every time a donation of $20 is received, one more diya will light up. Every 25 diyas lit ($500) means one more girl or woman in India receives a Second Chance at education, giving them hope for a better year. 

Pratham Australia has set the goal of lighting up 250 diyas, which will change the lives of 10 girls and women in India forever. 

All donations above $2 are tax-deductible.

 About Pratham

Pratham, India’s largest education NGO, was established in 1995 to provide education to children in the slums of Mumbai. Since then, the charity has expanded exponentially. It now runs 13 different targeted programs to help disadvantaged children and young adults across 21 states of India. 

Today Pratham has a solid track record of results, with donors and volunteers partnering with state governments and local bodies to implement programs. In the last 26 years, through its 13 programs, Pratham has managed to positively impact the lives of 45 million children and young adults in India. 

Pratham Australia 

Pratham Australia fundraises to support the Second Chance program, which focuses on bringing disadvantaged girls and women back into the education system to complete their Grade 10 exams. The Right to Education law in India guarantees free and compulsory schooling to all children up to Grade 8. However, for a variety of reasons (e.g distance, cost, access, socio-economic constraints and cultural barriers) millions of students drop out of school or discontinue their education across India. This phenomenon is even more pronounced for girls and young women, particularly in more remote, rural areas.

Pratham’s Second Chance program gives disadvantaged girls a chance to complete high school which then gives them employment opportunities and a way out of poverty. Their lives are improved, with benefits filtering over to their children, family, and the community. 

Since its inception in 2011 the program has impacted the lives of more than 36,000 girls and women. With the help of Pratham Australia the program has expanded rapidly over recent years including a 50% increase in the number of girls and women re-engaged in learning and a 30% increase in graduation rates. The number of centres has also tripled, from 10 centres in 1 state to 30 centres connected to 200 learning sites across 9 states.

2021 has been a challenging year for India. Covid 19 has brought a new set of challenges to deliver learning in a country where technology and digital literacy is not available in every household.

Before the pandemic, Indian schools lost almost 70% of students leave before Grade 10, and very sadly already lost almost 80% of India’s girl students leave before completing Grade 8. 

Since the pandemic, millions more have been pushed out of education across India. Children’s access to education during the pandemic has been disrupted, and re-opening schools has been fraught with challenges.  After a year of school closures, it is anticipated that a greater number of young adults – particularly girls – will drop out of education. Thus, the objectives for the coming year include leveraging the digital components and blended model of facilitation to reach a larger number of drop-out learners using remote learning, ensuring as many students in Grades 8 and 9 remain in school, and supporting girls and women in remote communities to enrol in educational institutions.  Pratham is using a variety of methods – conventional and innovative – to overcome these challenges the pandemic has thrown up. They need our urgent help today, more so than ever.

Pratham Australia is totally volunteer run charity, and all its support services are provided on a pro-bono basis. This means at least 93% of every dollar donated goes straight to Pratham’s Second Chance program.

Follow the Pratham Australia community

Pratham Australia looks forward to keeping the community updated on their website, Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages

OR donate at  https://www.pratham.org.au/diwali-fund-raiser

Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.