It might seem self-evident that India’s children deserve economic investment, given the country’s focus on demographic dividend, education and jobs. But, somehow, early childhood education has remained both under-invested and under-explored over decades. It is often trivialised, as child’s play, or limited to the household domain, perhaps because it has traditionally been women’s work. With the increasing focus by the government on women-led development, including a new survey by the Ministries of Women and Child Development and Labour (announced on January 30) on working women, care work and early childhood are finally being seen as part of the critical work of running a country.
Focus earlier in the life cycle
The argument for increased investment in early childhood care and education (ECCE) is a basic one — human resources are the bedrock of a nation, and early childhood is the bedrock of a human being. Slowly, but surely, the Indian developmental state has fostered and catered to parental aspirations for education, targeting first access, crossing 100% gross enrolment ratio at the primary level, and now quality, with an increased focus on measuring learning outcomes. There is also realisation that India’s young learners are struggling: a large number of Standard three learners are unable to read Standard two text or do basic subtraction.
