(pictured on screen) Mr. Vineet Nayar (Founder-Sampark Foundation) & Mr. Ashish Jhalani (MD-Square Panda India), converse about ‘Investing in Education’
Square Panda India has always been a big believer in the power of education, particularly early education. To further our cause of reimagining the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) landscape in India, we partnered with Times Network’s India Economic Conclave 2021 to Reform, Perform, and Transform India’s growth. The sessions were aired live across the Times Network on March 25th and 26th.
Day 2 of this thought-provoking conclave featured an illuminating opening discussion on education by the Minister of education himself, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal, following which Ashish Jhalani (Managing Director, Square Panda India), took centre stage to deliberate ‘Investing in Education’, with Vineet Nayar, the Founder of Sampark Foundation.
“With the pandemic causing a catastrophic learning loss (young children have fallen behind by almost a year), the fact that these children have also seen a worrying lack of development, particularly social development, showed our need to invest in digital education”, said Mr. Jhalani. He added that access to such tools could offset some of the learning deficit, and bring children back to schools, fully prepared to restart their education.
Mr. Nayar opined that India needs disruptive, inclusive innovation right now and reiterated the need to transform the social sector around education. He drew attention to key concerns about what children remember when they start school again, whether they will have an interest in education, and pondered if we will even reach pre-pandemic enrollment numbers.
Both speakers made strong cases for Public-Private Partnerships at the ground level to bring in much-needed accessibility and inclusivity, with Mr. Nayar saying, “Unless capital is invested, education will not transform.”
Mr. Jhalani stated the need to leverage private Edtech organisations to create a holistic learning environment, saying “My request to the government is to involve innovative, research-based private players early on so that our nation can execute the NEP rapidly”.
He went on to state that the knowledge and expertise such players bring to the table are immeasurable, and that they can help immediately start executing the NEP 2020 vision as envisioned by the policy.
Mr. Jhalani concluded by emphasising how any tool is only as good as the ones who wield them. In saying so, he directed attention towards the need for teacher training and Anganwadi worker upskilling, to help them develop 21st-century skills, and make the next decade one on which India leaves an indelible imprint.
The strategic reform in policies that focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), as proposed by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, has prompted a call to realign the very structure of teaching-learning methods used to educate India’s young learners.
However, change cannot happen without people, organisations, and institutions learning from each other’s failures and success. Such a transformation requires open dialogue and a platform to collectively ask and learn from questions, problems, and solutions.
Currently, multiple challenges force our early education system to operate in silos. For example, two of the major early learning providers are handled by two different ministries within the government: Anganwadis fall under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, which is run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and ECCE is looked after by the Ministry of Education.
To see effective change, we need an interconnected and inclusive framework that links each element in the early childhood education landscape; we need learning communities.
What Are Learning Communities? The term ‘learning community’ indicates a group of people with similar academic goals and attitudes who collaborate regularly.
Why Is This Network Important? When all the people invested in early learning—key stakeholders including parents, teachers, principals, etc.—are able to work together, they will be able to build a network of knowledgeable individuals, thereby improving student outcomes.
Facilitates the development of learning communities
Stakeholders begin working together as equal partners
A support system is formed that provides the means for early childhood innovators to set goals and share results
Such a network builds the framework for professional development and teaching-learning opportunities
Cultivates not only leaders, but also ideas
As our ECCE experience has taught us, such learning communities are crucial in ensuring the creation of a robust and healthy early learning landscape. That is why Square Panda India is building a community with each stakeholder in the Indian early education ecosystem — Anganwadi Workers, pre-primary and primary teachers, parents, and others who care about early education.
The following initiatives are examples of our active learning communities:
#1: Square Panda Thursdays
Educators are visionaries inspiring change in their students’ lives, shaping them for the future. Their passion and dedication influenced us, and a fun educational idea was born!
Picking up where our previous educational talks (Square Panda Sundays) left off, our new series is honouring the commitment of early years educators towards early childhood development. Each Thursday, we delve into insightful topics and discussions with early learning expert Ms. Sonia Relia (Author of MY LEARNING TRAIN-Activity-Based Series for Early Years, and Developer Activity-Based Learning Programs – KINOLEARN, KINOPHONICS).
*Catch next week’s talk on ‘Connecting Heart, Head, Hand – The Need for Activities and Play in Early Years’ live, on March 18th at 5 pm, only on Facebook @SquarePandaIndia
#2: Behind Every Step
This inspiring series celebrates each contributor (teachers/parents/other stakeholders) who stands behind young learners, supporting them as they take their first steps along their educational journey. Each week, we showcase inspiring tales from educators, children, parents, and other ECCE stakeholders across our social media platforms.
Teachers, Parents, Early Educators, other early learning stakeholders, we want to hear from you! Tell us the motivating/inspirational story behind your journey, what made you become a part of this community, how you support children as they take their first learning steps, and more. Send us your tales via DM, and we will share them across our channels. Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
We recognise the value each stakeholder holds and how this impacts the ECCE ecosystem. Our online programs, together with our early learning initiative Aarambh, are specially designed to enhance each person’s impact and build a supportive learning community.
*Aarambh empowers all stakeholders in the early learning ecosystem through NEP 2020-aligned programs. Learn more: ecce.squarepanda.in
Research has demonstrated how literacy and numeracy are intrinsically tied to future learning and success. Closer to home, the India Early Childhood Education Impact (IECEI) study conducted by the ASER Centre and the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED) clearly showed that exposing children to high-quality early education, i.e., basic reading, math, and developmental skills, improves their learning ability in early primary classes.
Unfortunately, acquisition of foundational skills is inadequate across India, to the extent of being a learning crisis, reports the National Education Policy 2020. The ASER 2019 report paints a grim picture.
Only 34.8% of std. 2 and 50.8% of std. 3 students could read std. 1 level text
51.4% of std. 2 and 66% of std. 3 students could do single digit oral subtraction problems, placing them substantially behind the education curve
A strong education has far-reaching effects on society, including ensuring economic prosperity, and societal well-being. Research studies over the years concur with this, with research conducted by John Bynner and Sam Parsons highlighting the importance of literacy and numeracy skills for gaining and retaining employment.
How Square Panda India Impacts Foundational Learning In India: Case Study Findings
As Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) experts and innovators, we have been working with multiple state governments and impact organisations to show the efficacy of our foundational learning and educator empowerment programs under Aarambh.
Our studies demonstrate encouraging trends to support the efficacy and use of Square Panda India’s teaching-learning programs with a large number of educators, Anganwadi workers, and children.
Study 1: CHHATTISGARH SCHOOLS
We started our intervention in 7 schools from grades 1-5, with students who do not have access to education outside their classrooms and had never gone to Anganwadis.
Before our intervention, reading and comprehension were the weakest skills, with a majority of the students not having even the slightest exposure to the English language.
We trained teachers to effectively use our program in the classroom, providing constant support as we introduced our early reading app to the children.
At the end of five weeks with our SquareTales app, word reading skills had improved by over 300%, and sentence reading skills had improved by over 125%. Notably, children could use their learnings to read newer words and sentences.
“The intervention by our foundational program worked so well that a child with no prior knowledge of English could read the first five SquareTales books when he was taught only till book 2.” – Ashish Jhalani, MD, Square Panda India
Study 2: AKANKSHA FOUNDATION
We conducted trials with SKG and Grade 1 students across Mumbai and Pune with this non-profit organisation across four months.
By the end of the study, there was an overall improvement of 32% in SKG and 128% in Grade 1.
There was considerable improvement in literacy outcomes & different skills like Alphabet Knowledge, Letter Sound Knowledge, Word Decoding, Spelling, and Sentence Reading.
We saw that the students had become much more confident and interested in learning.
They could independently use tablets, leading to digital literacy in students.
Study 3: MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF GREATER MUMBAI (MCGM)
This six-week program with grade 2 students showed significant progress in early literacy skills among the control group, without any external intervention.
After using our program 4-5 times a week, for 15 minutes a day, we observed an improvementof 75% in reading skills.
Study 4: SITAPUR AND CHITRAKOOT DISTRICTS IN UTTAR PRADESH
These progressive districts signed up with Square Panda India to conduct a comprehensive Empowerment & Enrichment Program for ECCE Educators for primary grade teachers in government schools.
After our 60-hour training program, post-program assessment showed a 47.83% increase in understanding of teaching methodology, a 44.38% improvement in classroom management skills, and a 43% increase in knowledge of ECCE and its varied facets.
Study 5: UPSKILLING PROGRAM WITH A SOUTHERN STATE (ONGOING)
To adequately equip these crucial frontline workers, Square Panda India is partnering with a southern state to deliver an intensive program for Anganwadi workers.
This program will be conducted physically, covering six extensive core modules, and will include practical hands-on activities like role-playing and group discussions for additional comprehension.
Armed with continuous research in pedagogy as well as our product, Square Panda India is confident in its ability to adopt best practices from global markets, while streamlining our programs under Aarambh to cater to the early education system in India in alignment with the NEP 2020 goals. For us, this is an extension of our commitment to overcome the challenge of preparing our teachers for early childhood education and our children for the future.
Our understanding of the importance of early education stems from the fact that 85% of brain development happens before the age of eight. This fact is highlighted in the National Education Policy 2020, and is one reason for the renewed focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). Studies show that for a young learner’s holistic development, there needs to exist a supportive, and stimulating environment. The lack of such an enriching environment can stunt brain development.
To impact early childhood education on a large scale, Square Panda India has identified a need to impact each person responsible for imparting early learning. In effect, this includes ECCE stakeholders – parents, teachers, administrators, and other early years’ educators, leaders, and children themselves.
Every adult has to not only function as a high-quality content creator but understand the science behind early learning, and the system that comes into play as a young child begins to learn.
To further our goal of transforming the ECCE landscape in India, we adopted a three-pronged approach to develop the entire early education ecosystem; the Anganwadi workers, ECCE educators, and the children themselves. This early learning initiative, called Aarambh, holistically empowers each stakeholder through foundational learning and educator empowerment programs.
Square Panda India’s Research Into The Early Brain
Aarambh is completely research-driven, with each program interconnected. This comprehensive approach guarantees that we meet the desired learning outcomes. Knowledge of multiple crucial components of early childhood education is integrated into our programs, enhancing the development of foundational skills like cognitive development, motor skills, reasoning, and more. To impact learning outcomes holistically, we put years of neuroscience research into developing our foundational learning and educator empowerment programs. Our programs ensure every stakeholder is well-versed in the pedagogy and the neuroscience behind early learning, with a strong grasp of digital knowledge, for a well-rounded 21st century approach to teaching-learning methodologies.
Strategic Expertise
Square Panda India has assembled a team of 100+ experts and specialists from the ECCE sector across India, including school administrators, educators, teacher trainers, counsellors, specialists in the fields of cognitive neuroscience and early education, child psychologists, technologists, game developers, and coders, whose participation and insights have proven invaluable while structuring our program curriculum.
We are constantly building our teams and ensuring we bring the most innovative ECCE programs to impact young learners and early years educators. Furthermore, we have built our teams keeping in mind regional language requirements.
Curriculum Designing Process
STEP I: Our expert team of in-house researchers puts in deep thought and years of research while designing each module of the Square Panda India foundational learning and educator empowerment programs.
STEP II: We conducted on-ground pilots with governments and impact organisations across India to measure the efficacy of our teaching-learning programs.
STEP III: Expert on-ground teams were conscripted to assess each aspect of our programs.
STEP IV: This assessment led to the extraction of performance metrics, which were used to evaluate areas of improvement.
STEP V: Armed with analytics from our studies and field research to prove our impact, we have partnered with and continue to partner with multiple state governments and the central government to drive learning and skill development for millions of children and early years’ educators across India.
Our ‘Six-Pillar’ Approach
Square Panda India follows a systematic approach with the following six pillars that we have identified, for a holistic change:
Pillar 1 – Goal Setting: We create a well thought out and structured plan around a common vision. We then define the program objective, its outcomes, and key measurement metrics. For greater clarity and alignment across the stakeholders, we identify and define the key responsibilities early on. Lastly, we design the program schedule, key milestones, and timelines.
Pillar 2 – Curriculum Designing: Our expert team designs our innovative curriculum, conceptualising them for India while using best global practices.
Pillar 3 – Implementation: To bring about seamless implementation, we:
Create a program management team comprising stakeholders from the Government, respective organisations, and Square Panda India, who create a detailed roll-out plan
Create an on-ground team from the local community for additional effectiveness
Implement our program
Pillar 4 – Measurement & Evaluation: Our programs are assessed periodically throughout the year to measure impact. The results are compared and presented at multiple levels – grade-wise, age-wise, skills-wise, school-wise, district-wise, and state-wise. These assessments throw light on gaps and common issues, providing actionable insights that aid in improving the subsequent program outcomes and effectiveness.
Pillar 5 – Monitoring & Accountability: Square Panda India promotes complete transparency while implementing our programs, conducting regular field visits, gathering feedback from participants, and ensuring Program Health checks are provided to stakeholders for review.
Pillar 6 – Support: We provide continuous support throughout the program by supplying end-to-end solutions, including teacher training, classroom resources like teaching-learning material, lesson plans, and performance data to help make decisions on how to help students better their learning journey.
Blending Practical With Theoretical
To transform early childhood education, and drive it to its fullest potential, we take on a holistic approach towards the development and implementation of our foundational learning and educator empowerment programs. Each aspect of our programs incorporates practical application alongside theory for better outcomes:
In Our Teams: Each member of our content and curriculum team has been chosen based on the expertise in teacher training and development, and years in ECCE. Subsequently, our content is based on their insight and in-depth practical knowledge of the early learning landscape in India.
During Implementation: Square Panda India translates our ECCE expertise and research into the field, taking a rounded approach to implementing each program. We blend practical knowledge with theory, using case studies, role plays, group games, and activities to enhance the understanding of our curriculum.
Our years of research in early childhood learning, understanding of how young minds work, and use of neuroscience-backed learnings to develop our programs, sets us apart from similar programs, making us a partner of choice.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are collaborations between the public and private sectors with a focus on system efficiency, cost-effectiveness, innovation and accountability. In a PPP, the private sector provides infrastructure, assets and services that were otherwise provided by the Centre. An innovative idea to tap private resources, the PPP model looks at encouraging the private sector to participate in national development. We see successful examples all around us, in infrastructure, energy, communication, airports, and more.
The NEP 2020 addresses a wide range of reforms aimed at increasing enrolment and retention while making Indian education broad-based, skill-oriented and contemporary with potential to unlock a part of the demographic dividend in India. With the allowance for 100% FDI in the education sector, there have been numerous initiatives from the Centre and State governments to develop the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) landscape further.
Why Does Early Education In India Need The PPP Model?
Currently, in India, there are around 240 million children under the age of 8 who can benefit from equitable access to good quality education. At present, we can divide them into Metropolitans, Tier 1, Tier 2, and so on. The other parts of the ECCE ecosystem, like the anganwadis, the schools, are just as many. Implementing any sort of program is not a task for a single entity to accomplish easily, whether it is a public concern or a private organisation. A public-private partnership speeds up this process, reducing the time taken. As a result, the implementation itself speeds up. The PPP model is critical to see a better and larger impact across the spectrum: young learners benefit from early implementation, it affects future learning, and the economy and future of the nation are also impacted.
As we cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach to implementation, and as each state presents its own sets of challenges and opportunities, partnering with another concern, one that shares a common vision to create an increasingly literate India, is more a necessity than a want.
Strategic Advantages To Adopting The PPP Model:
Well-designed public-private partnership models can help the government effectively implement the NEP 2020’s vision. The key benefits to such a partnership would include:
Equal Access To Quality Early Education: The focus is currently on providing quality in ECCE. A PPP model is key to fulfil goals of reduced resource wastage, lower dropout rate, and reduced absenteeism. Private edtech organisations, by their very nature, are innovative and research-driven. They are scientifically sound, flexible, and can introduce better pedagogies and stronger management techniques to early education. An effective PPP model also helps bring in marginalised sections of the society into mainstream education, fostering inclusivity and breaking geographical barriers.
Gains From Efficiency: The private sector’s ability to specialise in certain areas equip it with added benefits. Including such partners, with highly specific skill sets, can increase the efficiency across the board, raising the funding, boosting the delivery, and heightening the development of every ECCE stakeholder (Anganwadi workers, pre-primary and primary educators, and children) in the process.
Innovation, Technology, & R&D: Private edtech organisations, by their very nature, are innovative and research-driven. Most invest heavily in R&D, using technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to enhance their services. This technology brings the edge and innovation needed to keep costs low, improve efficiency and speed of execution.
Targeted Focus: Private players help the government function effectively across SDGs, streamlining their focus towards a particular sub-specialisation. This helps them impact the last-mile delivery efficiently, with minimal wasted effort.
Speed Of Implementation: Implementation is key to any structural change. The government should look towards the PPP model for faster and quality implementation of NEP 2020’s vision. PPPs can help extend the reach and effectiveness of government funds, encourage innovation in education, increase safety, efficiency, and capacity of physical educational infrastructure, and given the right public policy context, extend access to educational services and parity of services received across a population. They allow the government to maintain strategic, financial and regulatory control over public education, allowing them to step back from the day-to-day delivery and management of the infrastructure and/or service in situations where their resources are limited.
Accountability: “The private sector is built on accountability. This is where the biggest part of the PPP model can impact early learning, by bringing accountability into the public framework, and impacting learning outcomes.”, says Square Panda India MD, Mr. Ashish Jhalani, in an excerpt from our upcoming round table discussion on ‘Role of Public Private Partnerships in Innovation and Implementation of NEP 2020’. *The fourth episode of our #EarlyLearningMatters series is airing this Saturday and Sunday, only on the Times Channels.
Effective Service Delivery: A responsive and effective service delivery framework depends on the right combination of supply and demand, alongside a robust governance framework, that can help resources flow right down to the local levels. Most private partners, especially those in early education, are always engaged in continuous improvement of their services, and believe in keeping a high quality standard, delivering programs that efficiently impact every stakeholder in the ECCE ecosystem.
Partnerships and wide scale collaborations with educationally inclined companies, foundations, and governments can bring in the necessary innovation and tools that can turn the NEP 2020 vision into a reality.
Square Panda India’s early learning initiative, ‘Aarambh’, as the name suggests, aims to holistically develop the ECCE ecosystem, which includes the Anganwadi workers, ECCE educators, and the children. Through this initiative, Square Panda India works closely with government schools, communities and organisations across the grassroots levels, to provide NEP 2020-focused foundational learning and educator empowerment programs. Aligning all the stakeholders towards a common goal, Square Panda India is dedicated to transform the Indian early learning space, by up-skilling Anganwadi workers, empowering ECCE educators, and providing foundational learning to the children.
Reasons Square Panda India Is The Perfect Partner For ECCE Development Across India:
We are geared towards inclusive growth.
We invest heavily in innovation and R&D.
Our NEP 2020-aligned curriculum is designed by an in-house team of ECCE experts with a collective experience of more than 50 years in this domain.
We upskill educators and students with technological knowledge, helping them acquire important 21st century skills.
We facilitate impact measurement at the core of each program, for timely interventions.
We conduct regular self-audits, allowing for course corrections.
Each of our programs is customisable as per the state’s requirements.
An effective and well-designed public-private partnership has the potential to take teaching beyond the classrooms, and give teachers the tools to impact the child in all aspects of their lives. We at Square Panda India believe investing in PPP is a very strong strategy to accelerate development in the Indian early childhood education sector.
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.
In recent years, a new teaching and learning technique has swept the educational landscape of India, making inroads into the previously predominantly traditional sector. Adaptive Learning, or Adaptive Teaching, as it is called, provides personalised learning via data driven systems, adjusting the path and pace of learning to suit each learner’s needs. Adaptive learning can be divided into two categories, adaptive instruction and adaptive assessment. This technology makes learning more personal, adjusting to a student’s unique needs, offering customised course delivery with technology-assisted insights and analytics.
How Does It Work?
How Does It Help?
Did You Know? Because it is not only transforming the way students learn but how instructors teach, adaptive learning is also known by another name – adaptive teaching. Teachers’ skills are developed via technology to drive learner pathways and re-define learning outcomes. See the benefits…
To Students:
– An adaptive technology presents students with the appropriate content and learning materials at the right time, increasing engagement.
– Because they are learning at a pace suitable for them, each child is more comfortable while learning, increasing the overall learning outcomes.- The dynamic feedback that allows teachers to cater their teaching style as per the need, and the digital rewards with positive feedback that are offered by the adaptive learning technology, serve to instill confidence in children, particularly struggling students.
To Teachers:
– Adaptive learning arms teachers with deeper insights into areas of struggle for students, while teaching them new pedagogy that aligns with their teaching styles.
– Allows instructors to engage more with students, by reducing the sheer amount of administrative tasks and increasing active learning experiences.
-In pre-primary & primary schools, teachers often teach students of more than one grade level and different learning levels, in the same classroom. These ‘multi-age’ and ‘multi-level’ classrooms present a unique challenge; how to recognise specific students’ learning needs and then address them, while managing the class simultaneously. Adaptive technology can be used as a tool toteach such ‘multi-age’ and ‘multi-level’ classrooms.
– The real-time feedback adaptive learning provides helps teachers incrementally calibrate their own instructions to meet individual learners’ needs, gradually aligning with the bigger framework of solving foundational learning. This personalised guidance for teachers and educators will help them achieve their goals of a better, more literate India, as envisioned in the new Indian education policy.
To The Government:
– India has one of the world’s largest education systems ever seen, with more than 1.5 million schools providing education to around 260 million students. Adaptive learning can be changed in size or scale to meet the evolving needs of the entire educational landscape.
– Adaptive software makes assessments possible on both the micro and the macro levels. Real-time dynamic feedback that allows for actionable plans and a mastery-based approach rather than a traditional one-size-fits-all learning model creates a robust education system that can stand up to any global curriculum.
An example of adaptive logic, using Square Panda: As a child plays and learns on Square Panda’s early literacy platform, activity data is generated. Our adaptive engine picks up this data and decides what content the child should have access to next. Whichever educational game or program the child is learning with reflects this suggestion, only showing content as per the individual child’s learning level. Special ‘cooldown’ periods are built into Square Panda’s platform, ensuring adequate repetition so that children practice without getting bored. Square Panda’s adaptive engine is constantly changing to add more skill masteries, more types of assessments and filters across the games, to tailor learning to specific learner profiles.
Adaptive learning and technology change the way learning happens, and that is a powerful thing. The transformation in the early learning system in India will happen when we embrace adaptive learning, using it as an intrinsic part of early education to enrich the teaching-learning experience.
Stay tuned for more insightful articles that delve into foundational literacy, and other hot button topics from the Indian early education sector.
