PAL (Preparing Anganwadis for Learning)

Have you ever wondered why more than 50% in Grade 3 are unable to read or subtract at Grade 1 level? Sure, we could arbitrarily blame the teachers, but what does the evidence say?

Ample evidence from ASER, UNICEF & Centre for Early Childhood Education, shows that children leaving ‘Anganwadis’ (government pre-schools) possess less than 50% of skills required to be ready for school and thus begin their life with a disadvantage. Research shows that when children attend quality pre-schools, they have better outcomes in terms of retention in school, school grades, health and income levels.

Government Anganwadis are the largest providers of early childhood education and child nutrition in the world.

Why aren't we doing anything about them then?

The Indian Right to Education Act excludes Early Childhood Education (ECE), which results in insufficient teacher training at entry level and inadequate fresher training. Since results at this age are not conveniently visible, it is a heavily neglected sector and we need your help in this.

We build the capacity of Anganwadi Supervisors in Early Childhood Education and train them to facilitate circles for learning. We then form peer learning circles with Anganawdi Workers (they prefer to be called workers because they work much beyond classrooms) and guide them through the regular training that they deserve! Additionally, we guide the district administration to effectively monitor and evaluate the state of ECE in the district.

Our guided learning circles for the year will impact 1400 teachers and 15000+ children. The core of effective training is collective participation for a sustained duration (2009). In the past, the success of our intervention was instrumental in the CMO unprecedentedly issuing a directive for all districts in Haryana to allocate a budget for ECE.You may also visit http://www.barefootedu.in/early-childhood-education/ to know more.