Early Childhood Care & Education

Advancing developmentally appropriate outcomes for children

Early childhood care and education is key to a child’s development in the early years, as over 85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of six (National Education Policy 2020). Children learn best during their early years through exploration, curiosity, and imaginative play. It is a world of wonder where they build connections, understanding, and a love for learning that lasts a lifetime.

Reliance Foundation recognises the transformative power of play-based learning during the foundational stage and has, since 2022, aimed to make developmentally rich play-based learning a widespread norm across India’s early education system through the Early Childhood Care and Education programme.

Reliance Foundation’s Early Childhood Care and Education programme, in partnership with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme in Maharashtra and the Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Department in Telangana, is dedicated to strengthening early childhood education in India. By providing innovative models for capacity building, community engagement, and creating enabling environments at Anganwadis, the programme aims to lay a strong foundation for lifelong learning and development.

Creating conducive teaching-learning environment

Reliance Foundation aims to create nurturing spaces that inspire curiosity, creativity, and holistic growth for young learners, fostering a brighter and exciting learning experience through a network of Anganwadi Learning Labs (AWLLs) and State ECCE Resource Labs (SERLs) in Maharashtra and Telangana.

These nurturing environments also serve as demonstration, training, learning, and innovation spaces for Anganwadi staff.

Reliance Foundation is investing in the redevelopment of AWLLs by upgrading key infrastructure, including enhanced kitchen and storage areas, access to purified drinking water, and dedicated outdoor play spaces. The redevelopment also introduces play equipment such as swings and slides, a nutrition garden, a range of educational toys, teaching-learning materials such as books, flashcards, and building blocks, as well as digital tools like a smart TV and laptop. In addition, child-friendly WASH facilities and age-appropriate furniture are being provided to create a safe, engaging, and developmentally supportive environment for children.

The Anganwadis that are re-developed also incorporate Building as Learning Aid (BaLA) concepts in their design and murals inspired by local art forms, culture, and heritage.

Building strong foundation through capacity building

Capacity building is a key pillar of Reliance Foundation’s ECCE programme, with focused training of Anganwadi staff playing a critical role in strengthening classroom practices and, in turn, improving child development and learning outcomes.

Aligned with the emphasis on play-based learning in NEP 2020, Reliance Foundation’s ECCE programme focuses on nurturing playful practitioners to create joyful and engaging classrooms. Its trainings are designed to be interactive and experiential, with a strong focus on language and cognitive development activities linked to foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes. Conducted within Anganwadi-Level Learning Labs (AWLLs), these trainings offer an ideal setting for Anganwadi staff to directly connect theory with practice, while ongoing onsite support from field teams helps reinforce learnings and strengthen the application of skills in real classroom contexts.

Parent and community engagement

Parents, caregivers, and the community play a critical role in a child’s development, especially during the early years. Reliance Foundation’s ECCE programme recognises this by forming parent groups and providing them with guidance and support to engage children in meaningful activities at home, helping create a stimulating learning environment. Initiatives such as the celebration of ECCE Day, School Readiness Melas, and other ECCE-related events further strengthen ECCE awareness among stakeholders, enabling families to actively support their children’s learning and development at home.