Paper: GS – II, Subject: Society and Social Justice, Topic: Social Sector- Education, Issue: Strengthening early childhood education.
Context:
Nobel Laureate James Heckman emphasizes that early investment in human capital yields high returns.
Key Highlights:
Importance of Early Childhood Education (ECE):
- Long-term impact: India faces a stark inequality due to the “lottery of birth,” where 1 in 5 children is born into poverty, affecting their long-term outcomes.
- Human development: ECE is critical for improving health, nutrition, learning, and future earnings.
| The Heckman Curve Insight: Every $1 invested in ECE yields a return of $7 to $12.Leads to benefits such as:Higher educational achievement.Greater earnings and home ownership.Better social outcomes by age 5. |
Challenges in India’s ECE Ecosystem:
- Poor learning Outcomes: Only 15% of pre-primary children could match basic objects (India Early Childhood Education Impact Study). Only 30% could identify large and small numbers.
- Resource Constraints: leading to low public spending of ₹1,263/year on ECE vs. ₹37,000 on school education.
- Shortage of trained educators: Only 9% of pre-primary schools have dedicated ECE teachers.
- Poor monitoring: Anganwadi workers spend only ~38 minutes/day on preschool instruction. There is only 1 supervisor per 282 Anganwadis.
- Low parental engagement: Parental involvement is low due to lack of awareness and absence of structured guidance.
| Case Studies-Positive Developments:Uttar Pradesh:Hired 11,000 ECE educators for Balavatikas.Introduced 6-day residential training for 50 master trainers across 13 districts.Odisha:Launched Shishu Vatikas in government schools.Providing Jadupedi Kits for foundational learning.Madhya Pradesh: Monthly Bal Choupal engages parents in play-based learning using smartphones and EdTech. |
Way ahead:
- Strategic Investments: Increase funding for ECE infrastructure and workforce. Train more supervisors and educators.
- Technology Integration: Use WhatsApp/EdTech apps to involve parents.
- Simple but effective tools: Simple interventions such as providing worksheets can encourage participation in ECE activities.
Conclusion:
By 2047, over 1 billion Indians will enter the workforce. Investing in ECE now can help 200 million children escape poverty and build a skilled, competitive workforce.
Rewriting the Script of Early Childhood Education. (The Hindu)
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