Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan recently launched the ‘Jadui Pitara’ – a play-based learning material tailored for children in the age groups of 3-8. Jadui Pitara is a bundle containing playbooks, toys, puzzles, posters, flashcards, and handbooks for teachers and trainers. The material which reflects local cultures aims at making the learning-teaching environment more child-centric.
It is a significant development in early learning and has been made mandatory in at least 1200 central government-run schools. The scheme is a step taken towards achieving NEP 2020 goals and its focus on Early Childhood Education. The minister added that technology should be leveraged to translate the module into multiple languages to make foundational learning as inclusive as possible.?
The National Curriculum Framework is based on the vision of the NEP, 2020 which aims to increase India’s Gross Enrolment Rate to 100% in the pre-school to secondary level and emphasizes holistic development.
This is an important measure towards achieving the goals and could impact several segments:
- Indian Preschool market: The NCF 2022 was defined for age groups 3-8 years which for the first time brought children aged 3 years into the formal schooling system. This will directly impact the preschool market in India as the number of addressable students and enrolment rates increase. This market is expected to reach US$ 957.86M by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.57% -
- Play-based learning market: It opens avenues for players focussed on game/play-based learning (e.g. Skillmatics, PlayShifu, etc.).
- Vernacular content market:?The focus on vernacular learning presents expansion opportunities to EdTech players who have been penetrating markets through vernacular content (e.g. Doubtnut provides content in 12 vernacular languages and has successfully targeted Tier 3 and 4 cities with a majority of its “Hinglish” speaking students hailing from Bihar and Bengal).
The rationale for this policy change is to prevent learning delays in the future – beyond the foundational years. (Nobel Prize-winning economist, James Heckman states that US$ 1 spent on quality ECCE saves approximately US$ 16 in higher education as students are mentally equipped to grasp concepts with greater speed.)
More than 850 million people live in rural India. However, the majority of rural start-up founders lack resources when compared to entrepreneurs based in metro cities. But to solve this challenge, governments across states are coming up with initiatives to incubate and promote budding founders. These initiatives are helping move the start-up momentum to tier 2 and 3 cities.