• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched play-based learning materials for children in the age group of 3-8 years called “Jaadui Pitara” (magic collection).

• Envisaged as a child-centric, innovative, toy-based learning experience that will strengthen conceptual understanding amongst the learners aged 3-8 years, the Jaadui Pitara has been designed on the motto of “learning through play”, as envisaged in the new National Education Policy (NEP).

• Jaadui Pitara, comprising playbooks, toys, puzzles, posters, flash cards, storybooks, worksheets as well as reflecting the local culture, social context and languages, is designed to pique curiosity and accommodate the diverse needs of learners at the foundational stage. 

• Developed under the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), the learning material is available in 13 Indian languages.

• The NEP 2020 envisages a 5+3+3+4 curriculum pedagogical structure. The Department of School Education and Literacy under the ministry of education has formed the National Steering Committee, headed by K. Kasturirangan, to develop the NCF for each of the stages.

• The NCF for the foundational stage was launched by the ministry last year and according to the curriculum framework, the NCERT has developed and collected the learning-teaching material (LTM).

• Accordingly, the LTM for the foundational stage was launched using the concept of Jaadui Pitara.

Learning and development in five domains under Jaadui Pitara:

i) Physical development

ii) Socio-emotional and ethical development

iii) Cognitive development

iv) Language and literacy development

v) Aesthetic and cultural development.

Rationale for Early Childhood Care and Education

• The first eight years of a child’s life are truly critical and lay the foundation for lifelong well-being, and overall growth and development across all dimensions - physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional.

• Indeed, the pace of brain development in these years is more rapid than at any other stage of a person’s life. Research from neuroscience informs us that over 85 per cent of an individual’s brain development occurs by the age of 6, indicating the critical importance of appropriate care and stimulation in a child’s early years to promote sustained and healthy brain development and growth.

• The most current research also demonstrates that children under the age of 8 tend not to follow linear, age-based educational trajectories. It is only at about the age of 8 that children begin to converge in their learning trajectories.

• Even after the age of 8, non-linearity and varied pace continue to be inherent characteristics of learning and development. However, up to the age of 8, the differences are so varied that it is effective to view the age of 8, on average, as a transition point from one stage of learning to another. In particular, it is only at about the age of 8 that children begin to adapt to more structured learning.

• Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is thus generally defined as the care and education of children from birth to eight years.

• National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage, uses ‘play,’ at the core of the conceptual, operational, and transactional approaches to curriculum organisation, pedagogy, time and content organisation, and the overall experience of the child.

• Children learn best through play, hence learning envisaged by the National Curriculum Framework will provide stimulating experiences for the child’s development in all dimensions – cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and will also enable the achievement of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all our children.

Evolution of Early Childhood Care and Education in India

• Traditionally, early education was family based and focussed on the learning of values and social skills in children. With changes in the socio-cultural and demographic milieu, early childhood education in India has moved from socio-cultural practices which were often informal to a more formalised institution-based setting.

• Some of the earliest pioneers of early childhood education in modern India have been Gijubhai Badheka and Tarabai Modak. They were amongst the first Indians in modern education to conceptualise a child-centred approach to the care and education of young children.

• Although models of kindergarten based on ideas of early education thinker Friedrich Froebel were established in certain towns by the English missionaries in the late 19th century, the first indigenous preschool was set by Gijubhai Badheka in 1916. Tarabai Modak established the Nutan Balshikshan Sangh (New Childhood Education Society) in 1925. The Vikaswadi centre in Kosbad established by Tarabai Modak later became one of the inspiring settings for developing community ECCE programmes in the country.

• With Mahatma Gandhi’s emerging ideas of Pre-Basic and Basic Education and Montessori’s visit to India in 1939, the foundations for organised early childhood education were further strengthened.

• The Committee for Early Childhood Education in 1953 emphasized the need for establishing pre-schools within primary school settings. Under a scheme of the Central Social Welfare Board, several organisations supported the establishment of ‘Balwadis’ in rural areas to provide services that integrated education, health, and care for families and communities. 

• The Kothari Commission (1964) recommended the establishment of pre-school centres in the country.

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