Education

In this article, the author reflects on efforts to strengthen early childhood education in Anganwadis. For this, she draws upon her organization’s three-year Shakti program in Pune. This initiative focused on trust-building, sustained mentoring, parental engagement, and contextualized support. The piece highlights the value of relationships, flexibility, and holistic learning in creating lasting change.

Drawing on a large‑scale study involving classroom observation across nine states, this article highlights gaps between teacher training and classroom practice. It underscores the need for learner‑centred strategies, effective use of home languages, and sustained academic support to improve early learning outcomes.

In the ‘Resources and reviews’ section of this issue, Namrata Ghosh shares several useful ECCE resources, into whose development process Vikramshila has contributed.

In the ‘Ground Zero’ piece, Vaishali Kotecha shares the experiences of three organizations that are doing exemplary work to make early childhood learning and care a reality for every child in the country.

This issue focuses on the theme of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). It has been guest edited by our Kolkata-based partner organization, Vikramshila Education Resource Society. The pieces in this issue make the overall case for the importance of ECCE as an educational sub-domain and as an area of societal concern.

In his essay, titled ‘Early childhood education in urban Anganwadis,’ Atul Gaikwad discusses how we can use the ICDS system effectively to cater to the educational needs of children from marginalized social groups living in urban areas.