Early childhood care and education (ECCE) aims at the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs in order to build a strong foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. ECCE is the pathway to nurture caring, capable and responsible future citizens.
Research shows us that the critical period of brain development, almost 85%, happens before young learners reach the age of six. To build a better foundation for future success, these early years need to be supported by a stimulating and enabling environment.
For the well-rounded development of each child across the heartland of India, we need to recognise and acknowledge the various key stakeholders of this environment or ecosystem:
– The Anganwadi workers, who prepare the child. – The primary and pre-primary educators, impart this new age education – The children themselves *Read our article on Anganwadis, here.
Square Panda India is looking to bring about a systemic change in the ECCE landscape in India by introducing Aarambh, an early learning initiative to holistically impact the ECCE ecosystem in India, which comprises the Anganwadi workers who prepare the children for schooling, the ECCE educators who impart new age education, and the children themselves. As a part of this commitment, we have created NEP 2020-aligned foundational learning and educator empowerment programs that holistically empower each part of this ecosystem. We believe empowering anganwadi and balwadi workers, along with ECCE educators, will drive early childhood education in India to new heights, creating a truly self-reliant nation. To spread awareness about various crucial topics related to early education, we have planned a series of round table discussions with early childhood education experts, on the theme—EarlyLearningMatters.
Watch our 2nd panel on the ‘The literacy & numeracy conversation must begin from Anganwadis and Balwadis’, right here, and stay tuned to our social media for news on upcoming discussions.
There is a very strong correlation between early learning and a positive long-term impact on the GDP. Multiple studies have shown us that early childhood is the most fertile, most crucial period, with 85% of the total brain development happening before the age of eight. Building these foundational skills in young learners contributes to future success, both their own and their nations’ too.
Many economists believe that an investment in early childhood education yields economic growth. India stands firm in its belief that a robust ECCE system strengthens our population; the Indian government allocated 4.6% of the GDP to the education sector in 2019-2020, with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 even pledging to raise this to 6%.
“The demographic trend shows that India will soon have a large ageing population which is supported by a gradually shrinking workforce. So, it is imperative to have this workforce firing on all 4 cylinders with high productivity. That’s the only way we can keep our economic growth rate going.” says Nisha Holla (Co-Editor & Author, Observer Research Foundation), during a panel discussion on ‘Decoding the economics of early childhood learning and its impact on India’s GDP’, conducted by Square Panda, in partnership with the Times Network, for a special #EarlyLearningMatters series.
*Watch the whole discussion here and follow our social media pages (Facebook, LinkedIn), for more information about this series.
HOW EDUCATION RAISES ECONOMIC GROWTH
The skills developed in early childhood will create a base for the enhancement of greater cognitive development, socio-emotional skills, reasoning, and more. This new and improved workforce will then find it easier to use new technologies and software, think creatively, adjust to the changing employment landscape, and generally be more accomplished as workers. Firms with better workers will, in turn, perform better. These firms go ahead and contribute to the economy as a spillover effect. Ultimately, the GDP of our nation will reap the benefits of a good early education system. This new educated workforce can then compete with their global counterparts, getting more mobile and adaptive. Beyond that, a more educated workforce results in a healthier environment with less crime and better functioning civil institutions.
FURTHER CASE FOR INVESTING IN ECCE
Research Supports The Positive Connection Between Early Education And The Economy: Studies conducted by bodies such as UNESCO clearly show that investment in early years had the highest returns of any education and training program, recovering at least ten times the initial cost.
Narrows Socio-economic Disparity: When high-quality education programs are made accessible to all children across India, each community fares better with marginalised communities seeing the highest returns.
Benefits Outweigh Costs: The short-term costs of investing in early childhood education is offset by the immediate and long-term benefits that an educated workforce bring. Additionally, there is less need for remediation and special education, better health outcomes, lower criminal justice costs, and increased productivity, all of which contribute to the development of the nation.
Multigenerational Effects: These educated and empowered citizens will not only reap the benefits of the strong ECCE foundation in their own lives, but will pass on their learning to future generations as well, multiplying the dividends from the initial investments.
THE WAY FORWARD
Increasing Public-Private Partnerships: While the government has already been conducting exemplary projects to enhance early learning in India, like their ICDS schemes, there are multiple areas when a public-private partnership can add value:
many private partners invest heavily in R&D for their own services and programs, giving these offerings a strong base of research.
a partnership can allow the government to focus on the macro levels, while their private partners can impact each micro field and sub-specialisation.
private companies are usually external companies that have been hired to achieve a specific goal; they can be audited and course corrections can be made as required.
Increase Quality Along With Investment: An education is only as good as the educator. For better student outcomes and a strong foundational base, educators need to be trained in the pedagogy and the neuroscience behind early learning, along with 21st century skills. This improves classroom management and delivery of curriculum, which subsequently enhances learning outcomes.
Effective Data On Performance & Assessment: For a clearer picture of how high-calibre ECCE projects and programs affect student outcomes, and to gauge their efficacy, there is a need to regularly collect and collate real-time data on overall school performance and student assessments. This will help policymakers decide their way forward, while clearly demonstrating the positive effects of investment in early learning.
Square Panda’s portal provides real-time analytics at the student, school, district, and state levels
Investing in early childhood programs serves to promote inclusivity in learning, to bridge the gap between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers. The country’s GDP, and health and welfare, reap the benefits of a solid early learning system, with its empowered and literate citizens.
We at Square Panda are committed to building a more literate India, with a large productive workforce capable of soaring to greater heights. To further this aim, we developed holistic programs based on NEP 2020 guidelines that impact the entire ECCE ecosystem in India-the anganwadi workers, the ECCE educators, and the children themselves. To learn more about these programs, visit ecce.squarepanda.in.
India has always been ahead of the curve, setting up schemes for early childhood development while the rest of the world was just talking about it, says Arjan de Wagt, UNICEF India’s cross-sectoral coordinator for early childhood development. The Indian government’s department of social welfare launched the National Policy for Children in 1974, which highlighted India’s commitment to “provide adequate services to children, both before and after birth and through the period of growth, to ensure their full physical, mental and social development.” A year later, in 1975, India launched its Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, with the help of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). One of the largest and most unique integrated early childhood programs in the world, the goal of ICDS was to help feed, educate, and care for vulnerable kids and their mothers.
ICDS services were offered through a network of anganwadis spread out across every region in India. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, every urban or rural community of 400 to 800 people has at least one anganwadi center. In each anganwadi centre, an anganwadi worker takes care of women and children, educates the community, and collects health and nutrition data on women and children. Data from 2017 states that anganwadis delivered preschool services to close to 33 million children.
Presently, official government data shows there are 13.77 lakh anganwadi centres operational in India, with a strength of 12.8 lakh workers and 11.6 lakh helpers. Each anganwadi worker is assigned to approximately 250 homes; this worker knows everything about her community-which family requires prenatal help, which household requires a supply of vitamins, how many homes have young learners, and how old each of them is. These are the people taking care of early education, nutrition, and health in rural areas. Anganwadi workers are connected to the community, to the parents, the children, in a way no other educator is.
Anganwadi centres face a host of challenges-multiple responsibilities of which early childhood education is only one, overpopulation leading to an unfavourable teacher-pupil ratio, crumbling infrastructure, among other problems-and still, anganwadi workers find ways to beat the odds and support their charges at all costs. *Read examples of how anganwadi workers (and other educators) are helping prevent a learning loss during the pandemic, here.
Anganwadi centres are the lifeblood of the rural educational landscape in India and can sometimes be the only foundation for learning these children will ever get.
Acknowledging the worth these centres bring to early education, food, and nutrition, The Women and Child Development Ministry, under whose jurisprudence the anganwadis fall under, plans to upgrade services and facilities at 2.5 lakh anganwadi centres over five years under the Saksham Anganwadi Scheme, according to an Economic Times report dated December 2019.
The NEP 2020 too, recognised the anganwadi’s contribution, mentioning, “To prepare an initial cadre of high-quality ECCE teachers in Anganwadis, current Anganwadi workers/teachers will be trained through a systematic effort in accordance with the curricular/pedagogical framework developed by NCERT.“
Teacher training in session
What Can We Do To Support Anganwadis To Improve The Quality Of Education?
Support from multiple levels/stakeholders: The anganwadi centres don’t exist in silos; they are an intrinsic part of the community and must be treated as such. Strong guidance and backing are required across all levels, starting from the homes and moving up to the policymakers. There is a need to understand each problem these centres face, address each one, and work on plans and schemes to improve the quality in each anganwadi.
Develop their skills through training programs: To ensure better outcomes across anganwadi centres, it is imperative that these catalysts of change are exposed to holistic development programs. Take Square Panda‘s Anganwadi Workers Upskilling Program, for instance, which empowers them with knowledge of ECCE and methods to create a conducive learning environment, to make children school ready and transform the anganwadi centre to their fullest potential. Our trainers can even teach in multiple vernacular languages for optimal understanding.
Create a more comprehensive support system using AI and ML: Technology can be wielded to develop tools and aids to reduce anganwadi workers’ burden. Problems and queries can be dealt with quickly and expertly, using multilingual applications that connect anganwadi workers with early learning experts.
Develop the centres themselves: A positive experience in these centres could translate into a journey into formal schooling, thereby improving their futures. At present, many anganwadis suffer from a lack of essential architecture and resources, making them less inviting to impressionable young minds. Recognising the worth of developing these centres, the NEP 2020 has mentioned in its policy a plan to strengthen anganwadis with “high-quality infrastructure, play equipment, and well-trained Anganwadi workers/teachers.“
Anganwadis nourish our children in the most crucial period of their lives, a period when their brain develops the most; to ensure universal access to ECCE, these centres need all-round support and training in pedagogy, digital literacy, and foundational literacy and numeracy.
See how Square Panda works to upskill anganwadi workers, here.
Yesterday, December 3rd, was International Disability Day. Promoted by the United Nations since 1992, the significance of this day is observed around the world. At Square Panda, we believe inclusive classrooms providing access to quality teaching learning opportunities for all young learners and educators is a step towards a nation without discrimination. The Indian education system is addressing the learning crisis via the NEP 2020, and is working to provide equitable access to education, particularly early education, for all types of learners so children from varying socio-economic backgrounds and educational needs don’t suffer a learning loss.
Bringing About Inclusivity And Equality In Education
Education that reaches even the most disadvantaged and vulnerable so that they learn in the same way and classrooms as more advantaged children, requires a joint effort by all sections and levels of society. – At the community level: After eradicating stigma and discrimination from the society, each stakeholder (parents, policymakers, students, etc.), need to be educated about the benefits of inclusivity in the classroom, for them and for the future of India. – At the school level: Educators need to be trained to handle developmentally varied needs in multi-age classrooms, along with equal access to quality teaching-learning tools that personalise as per individual learning needs. – At the national level: While the NEP 2020 gave a great impetus to equality in the Indian education sector, this proposal must be followed by complete support during implementation of plans by each state across India. Before, during, and after implementation of NEP-aligned programs, regular and continuous evaluations and assessments must be conducted, to ensure all children across India are reached by the proposed services.
Square Panda’s vision follows this principle of equal education for all, right from our inception.
Square Panda’s Origin Story
Square Panda was born out of our CEO and co-founder Andy Butler’s struggle to find appropriate learning resources for his dyslexic daughter.
Square Panda CEO Andy Butler with his daughter
Andy’s daughter was in Grade 1 when she was diagnosed with dyslexia. Her parents had noticed her turning from a happy child into a moody and frustrated one, who also often struggled with reading. Their search for appropriate learning resources to help her led them to consultants, special educators, and due to his wife’s contacts at Stanford University, some of the top researchers in the field. At this point, Andy began wondering how parents who lacked access to the contacts he did helped their children. Andy realised he needed to democratise the learning, making it accessible to all parents and children globally. Today, the work we do at Square Panda is a personal mission of Andy to impact early literacy and early learning, whether the learners are dyslexic or not.
Square Panda’s Work To Promote Inclusive Education
Square Panda is at the forefront of the changing educational landscape, supporting the Indian government in its efforts to provide equal access to early childhood education. In Our Early Learning Programs: Square Panda focuses on multisensory and inclusive foundational learning programs to meet students’ diverse learning needs. Our adaptive platform uses AI software to personalise learning to individual children, helping tailor curriculum as per the requirements of each child. In Our Educator Empowerment Programs: Our unique training programs empower educators with new-age skills and technical know-how, along with an in-depth understanding of how a child’s brain develops as they learn, adding in an important element of neuroscience understanding. Each program also equips educators with a working knowledge of the English language, furthering their Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking skills for better professional development.
An inclusive system of education values unique contributions by students of all backgrounds, allowing diverse groups to grow side-by-side. Square Panda is collaboratively working with states across the country to bring inclusivity into ECCE in India, with its robust teaching and learning programs.
