While several educational institutes experimented with digital education to improve access during the pandemic, children are now back to school. The importance of playful learning is well established, especially for Early Childhood Education (ECE). As experts point out, children learn about “social norms, roles and responsibilities, and language through curiosity-driven, playful interactions and activities.” Given that at this age, children spend most amount of time at home or with caregivers, they need to interact with the child, which, according to science, helps trigger neural connections and strengthens child brain, stimulating social and communication skills. Several studies have demonstrated that play-based learning is significantly more effective than traditional forms of teaching.

While ECE, like any other stage of education, was significantly impacted due to COVID-19, several organisations innovated with available technology to strengthen play-based learning, involving parents and communities. In India, ECCE is delivered through one of the world’s largest early childhood programme called Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS), through a network of 13,99,697 Anganwadi centres. A study (as also cited in the publication Ideas, Innovation and Implementation: India’s Journey Towards the SDGs) by the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED), Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) between 2011-2016 recommends play-based learning and experiences to help develop early literacy and numeracy skills at the foundational stage. It noted that children’s school readiness at age five in India is far below expected levels, hence there is a need to bridge the gap and provide age-appropriate pedagogies, activities as well as teaching material to help teachers overcome these challenges.

Tech toys: Using play-based digital tools to enhance foundational skills

During the pandemic, several prominent as well as smaller organisations experimented with tech-based innovations to enhance access to education for children. While using technology to enhance learning was the need of the hour, it was also important to be mindful of the fact that the technology is easy to use and understand for young children, as well as parents who would have to assist their children in efficiently using the technology.

In fact, studies show that parental engagement in a child’s learning is pivotal to help children engage with these technologies. According to a study conducted by the Lego Foundation, “Play with digital technologies supports children’s acquisition of knowledge and skills” – enhancing their digital skills, subject knowledge and holistic skills. Perhaps gamification of teaching materials has hence come up as a favourable solution to several Ed Tech companies that are catering to this age group.

Case of Bal Raksha Bharat: Going back to basics

However, digital play can sometimes be through the simplest game or device. As also demonstrated in the book Ideas, Innovation and Implementation, some organisations like Bal Raksha Bharat (also known as Save the Children) used basic and simple technology to reach children as well as involve parents. They initiated a programme called ‘Back to Basics’, which aims at improving the child’s learning experience both at the Anganwadi centre and home, to ensure effective transition from pre-school to Grade 1.

In collaboration with various State and Central government departments, this initiative developed and used audio-video modules for early learning. Under this initiative, Anganwadi workers and teachers are being trained in learning through activity and play-based methodologies to improve quality of the learning process. Besides, to include parents and caregivers in this learning process, during the pandemic, the organisation introduced 60 easy-to-follow instructions through audio-visual aids disseminated through WhatsApp called ‘Gulmohar’. This AV module is meant for the parents as a hands-on learning tool to develop activities for children at home, based on the child’s interests and skills.

Additionally, to reach additional children, Bal Raksha Bharat also launched ‘Story Ghar,’a low-cost digital compendium of 450 stories that was broadcasted on All India Radio in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Karnataka to provide interesting content to children. The AV aids under Gulmohar were developed with support of the caregivers from the community and disseminated through a platform that is widely used by the community.

The project has had significant impact on the way AWWs and teachers use child-centric methods of early learning. AWWs and teachers’ perceptions towards activity-based learning has improved, and one can see a change in trend towards the uptake of early learning activities in early 2020 (during the baseline study) vs in late 2022 (during the endline study). The key stakeholders have attributed the trainings, capacity building, innovative content as well as consistent on-site support for the impact figures.

Aligned to the findings of the endline study, the study by Lego Foundation also recommends teachers using a various form of approaches around the use of technology and ensure continuity between free play and instruction-based activities. Moreover, the study also states that innovation with technology in play should include children at the development stage as more autonomy over the process helps stimulate their critical skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving.

To read more about Bak Raksha Bharat’s Back to Basic programme, refer to Ideas, Innovation and Implementation: India’s Journey towards the SDGs, which showcases 17 lighthouse initiatives from India that are contributing towards the achievement of the 17 SDGs.

The way forward

Bal Raksha Bharat’s uniqueness also comes from the way the programme has been designed in a collaborative manner – involving the government and district departments, other key stakeholders as well as has been done in alignment with the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 of India. To target SDG 4 of equal access to education for all, it is important to undertake a holistic approach to development:

• Collaborate extensively and utilise the strengths of the existing governance mechanisms, to be able to effectively implement and scale solutions in a country with a large population.
• -The goals and visions of development programmes need to be aligned to the national development goals so as to ensure that all efforts are leveraged towards achieving of the similar set of ambitions.

In this context, another initiative called the ‘Back-to-School’ Ed Tech outcomes fund and accelerator is helping support and mentor organisations that are working towards ensuring access and quality of education for young children at home or for their remote learning. The Accelerator will promote access to and use of high-quality and contextually relevant edtech solutions in foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) to encourage at home learning – aligned with government’s FLN mission.

Further, the Brookings Institute’s Centre for Universal Education collected a compendium of nearly 3,000 tech-based innovations that are facilitating ‘Leapfrogging in Education’. In 2019, a study by the Deloitte Global and the Global Business Coalition for Education had predicted that “half of all youth around the world entering the workforce in 2030 will lack basic secondary-level skills they need to thrive—from literacy and numeracy to critical thinking and problem solving.” Since then, the pandemic has further slowed the progress the world was making on this SDG.

Hence, there is a need to accelerate this progress through simple innovations that are time and cost-effective, engages the end users as well as are easy to use and implement. As the UN General Assembly deliberated its progress on the development goals, some ideas and innovation need immediate implementation to that beyond 2030 the progress becomes the foundation for further improvement in the pace and process of achieving an equitable world for all citizens of the world.