The New Education Policy, 2020 of India (NEP 2020) highlighted the worrying status of Early Childhood Care and Education in India and argued for monumental changes in the conception. With a restructured model of ECCE provisioning, it becomes pertinent to probe the existing on-ground realities and this project is a step in that regard. While earlier studies have focused on ECCE as a whole, this project specifically considered the concept of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in the case of Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Following the conception of holistic development of children as envisaged in the NEP, 2020, this project looked into the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the breadth of skills that are required for holistic development, unlike the older conceptions which were limited to just literacy and numeracy. The project began with understanding the conceptualisation of the breadth of skills in the foundational stage (FLN) which includes 3 years of pre-school and 2 years (Grade 1 and Grade 2) of primary schooling for upwards curricular continuity. 6 models of ECCE (Government and Non-government) in both rural and urban areas of Maharashtra and Rajasthan were identified with an aim of developing a deeper understanding of the pedagogy and delivery of ECD in those particular models.
The project also produced policy recommendations to inform and advocate for the integration of breadth of skills in NEP and other policies based on our findings.
