From the countryside to school

Lavkush moved to Mumbai only three years ago and city life is still quite new to him. He lives with his uncle and aunt near Mahalaxmi in a low income neighborhood in Mumbai. His parents still live in his native village of Govindpur in Kalamb, Maharashtra. His uncle works for the local car factory and his aunt is a housewife.

10 year old Lavkush is in 4^th grade in a government school in Mumbai. Pratham conducted a learning camp in his neighborhood a year ago and tested all the students in that area for proficiency in various subjects. These tests revealed that Lavkush could only read basic words. This led his uncle to enroll him in the Pratham Summer Camp in his neighborhood.

Today, Lavkush can read and comprehend an entire story. Over the course of the year, Lavkush has learned to read and write effectively with the help of Pratham’s special teaching techniques and his Pratham-trained teacher.

In math, Lavkush has also improved dramatically. When he started the camp, he could do addition and subtraction; now he can do simple two digit multiplication.

His teachers say that he is an extremely bright child who is focused and dedicated. But he is also shy and reticent, perhaps because he is new to city life. In his spare time Lavkush loves to watch television, especially his favorite show, Chhota Bheem, about a mythological hero. His dreams aren’t mythical, he wants to be an engineer when he grows up.

Thank you all for supporting a child like Lavkush through Pratham!