Educate 17500 underserved children by empowering 500 marginalized women

Help women like Meena to educate children

The Freethinking Anganwadi Teacher Training (FATT) program empowers marginalized women like Meena (see video) with the skills and knowledge to become Montessori-based Early Childhood Educators. By doing so, it not only creates meaningful livelihoods but also addresses the acute shortage of qualified teachers in India’s Anganwadis.

Launched in 2023 by the Freethinking Foundation, the FATT program is designed to be community-led and digitally enabled. It equips women, many of them mothers of Anganwadi children with hands-on training in Montessori methodology and play-based, experiential learning, using low-cost, locally contextualized materials. The curriculum aligns with key national frameworks including the National Education Policy (2020) and the National Curriculum Framework – Foundational Stage (2022).

In its pilot phase, the program has already trained 21 women, positively impacting over 600 children. In 2025, we aim to scale up to reach 500 women and 17,500 children.

Our five-year vision is to empower 100,000 underserved women as early childhood educators, transforming the lives of 2.5 million children across India.

Watch a video of FATT here : https://youtu.be/fVRCbLn_Tt8?si=i-vrWHm-wHaK2cLR