Early Childhood Education
ECE in India: A Quick Glance
Approx. 27% of children in the 5-6 age cohort are in Anganwadis, a sharp decrease from 50% 4-5 year olds (ASER 2019)
School readiness outcomes are alarmingly low, with only 24% of 5-year-olds being able to do a simple listening comprehension task (ASER 2019)
Only one in six (17%) 5-year-olds could complete a simple pictorial pattern (IECEI Study, 2014)
Both, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National ECCE Policy 2013, recognize the critical importance of investing in young learners. However, we find that there is inadequate provision and lack of prioritization of ECE in both Anganwadis and government Pre-Primary Sections. This leads to poor learning levels of children before they enter grade 1.