Pratham-Jameel Second Chance marks transformative growth and digital innovation with 17,422 girls and women enrolled this year
MUMBAI, INDIA – 9 DECEMBER 2025 | Pratham-Jameel Second Chance, a nationwide initiative in India that enables girls and women who have dropped out of school to restart and complete their grade 10 education, marked a year of transformative growth and digital innovation in 2025, enrolling a record 17,422 learners across 12 states, Pratham Education Foundation and Community Jameel announced today.
Almost one-third of girls in India drop out of school before or during grade 10. Without a grade 10 certificate, they cannot pursue higher education or an array of employment opportunities.
Launched in 2023 with support from Community Jameel, Pratham-Jameel Second Chance scales up and expands the original Second Chance programme established in 2011 by Pratham, a leading non-profit in India.
Each year, the programme supports more than 10,000 girls and women in India who have dropped out of school, allowing them to reconnect with the education system, complete their schooling and realise their potential.
In 2024-2025, the number of participants in the programme grew significantly, with total enrollment reaching 28,821 girls and women since the launch in 2023.
This year also witnessed a surge in academic outcomes, with the number of learners appearing for the grade 10 board examination increasing by over 30% year-on-year and with preliminary results showing an improved pass percentage of 75%.
Leveraging digital innovation to drive scale
A key component of this success has been the introduction of the Pratham Learning Platform (PLP), a robust, scalable digital infrastructure designed for flexible, multi-modal delivery.
Enabled by a seed grant from Google.org, the PLP represents a major shift toward a data-driven, cost-efficient, and inclusive programme delivery model.
Establishing future pathways for alumni
Beyond completing grade 10, a core achievement of the Pratham-Jameel Second Chance programme has been establishing viable future pathways for alumni.
These efforts have already opened the door to further education and employment, with 3,660 alumni seeking opportunities beyond grade 10 this year.
Key initiatives and outcomes that have emerged from the programme include:
- A jhalak (meaning ‘glimpse’) survey with alumni, which revealed that 75% of participants (2,760 learners) planned to pursue further studies.
- 670 alumni enrolled for grade 11 in 2024-25, with an impressive 91% pass rate.
- 233 alumni received upskilling through Pratham's skill centres or community training camps in trades such as tailoring, healthcare, hospitality and automotive maintenance.
- 3,000 alumni received the everyday skills package, which includes digital literacy and basic financial literacy tools.
Pratham’s work on establishing future pathways has also been supported by Apple, which provided a grant to establish vocational training centres in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, improving access for alumni to formal employment.
Building on Pratham’s track-record of innovation in education
Pratham is a longstanding partner of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the research centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that Community Jameel has supported and partnered with since 2005.
Among many areas of collaboration, J-PAL has conducted rigorous evaluations of Pratham’s teaching at the right level (TaRL) approach to remedial classes at schools in India, demonstrating its effectiveness in helping fallen-behind pupils catch up with their peers.
Taking the evidence of its effectiveness, Pratham and J-PAL have scaled up TaRL, which can teach a child to read in just 50 days, reaching millions of children across India and now in 12 countries in Africa.
