Pratham started in the slums of Mumbai in 1994, as a result of the vision of a couple of committed individuals! The two, after much deliberation, decided to tackle the problem of education headlong. They could see only one way of correcting this problem and that was to involve the people of Mumbai to help the government in its quest of universalizing primary education. UNICEF parented the birth of Pratham and continued fostering it for the next three years. A Public Charitable Trust was accordingly formed by the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai together with the association of several prominent citizens of the city.

Today, the parental role of Pratham has been taken over by the ICICI Bank, a leading private sector bank of India. Pratham activities have spread to 14 states; assistance has come from the local governments, leading corporate houses and the local citizens. Many local trusts and governing bodies have been formed to oversee the smooth operations of Pratham activities; committed individuals from every walk of life have chipped in with their bit.

Friends of Pratham have started Pratham chapters in the USA, UK and the Middle East, to promote and support the Pratham cause in India. Overseas funding agencies such as the OXFAM NOVIB, NPL, AIF have also been sufficiently impressed by the work of Pratham, to start funding certain Pratham activities in a few states.

Since inception the goal of the Pratham team has been to ensure that "every child is in school ….. and is learning well". Over this 9 year period Pratham has reached out to a million children. An accelerated learning method, in which an unlettered child starts reading and computing basic mathematics in 3 weeks, has been in use since late 2002 and has taught over 160,000 children since then to become literate.

In 2000, The Global Development Network Award, sponsored by the World Bank / Government of Japan was awarded to Pratham. Pratham was named as one of the top three "most innovative development projects".

Four key elements make Pratham's work unique. Comprehensive Geographical Outlook, All Encompassing, Replicable and Strong Foundation.

Pratham takes a total geographical approach, be it a city, a rural block or a taluka. The "complete coverage" approach, coupled with close links and co-operation with the government, distinguishes it from other non-governmental organizations.

The organization is based on a triangular partnership: the government, the corporate sector and the citizens. In each city, the corporate leaders have taken the lead, the government has responded by opening its school and sharing its facilities, and the community volunteers, mostly young enthusiastic women from slums, implement the Pratham programmes.

The model is simple to implement and easily replicable. No immovable assets are acquired unless a donor specifically requests and the need is clearly established. Administrative costs are kept low. Consequently, Pratham Network has spread to 14 states across India.

The extensive network in the slum area enables Pratham to layer other activities, such as health and computer education, at a minimum additional cost of delivery. It also gives the researchers and academicians an opportunity to collect primary data.