The first three years of a child’s development are stepping stones: to their flourishing social, physical, and emotional future selves. The brain of a child aged between o to 3  is much more permeable to her surroundings and experiences than in the later stages of life, and intakes whatever is being told, said, or done around. The lower level processes of the brain are formulated as a result of these actions, and serve as foundations for the development of the higher level processes in the future. Consider, for instance, the ability of the child to differentiate sounds in their native language, which develops in their first year itself,  due to the exposure to the language at home, and elsewhere. Research has shown that the ability of the child to discriminate between sounds in native language in the early years directly correlates with better language skills later. The seeds of different social, emotional, and cognitive behaviours and skills, that while may come into effect or use later in life, are sown in the first three years—as the brain absorbs and imbibes what the child experiences.

While experiences vital for optimal brain development can come sporadically at home, concertedly providing a child with a nurturing environment and responsive caregiving practices in this duration ensures that the child grows to her fullest in different developmental domains. There’s a growing consensus across the globe on promoting early childhood education in this regard, and coming up with programs and principles that can implement the impetus. The Nurturing Care Framework (NCF) developed by WHO, attests to this discourse, and lists the key practices to be followed during  the first three years of child development. A key component of these practices is the support that must be provided to the caregiver, in order for them to provide responsive care to the child, or indulge in learning activities with her.

 The program under development  by Rocket Learning for children aged  between 0 to 3 comes in response to this emphasis, and aims to supplement and support the caregivers with the practices and behaviours necessary for actualising the learning possibilities at this age. The program will cater to low-income families with the help of the Anganwadi Centre in their region, and will be run entirely using digital media—Whatsapp, Chatbot, short learning videos etcetera.

While previous and ongoing interventions in early childhood education in India have focussed on children aged between 3-6, there does not exist a nationwide program targeting the education, and stimulation of children in the 0 to 3 age bracket. Save for a few programs here and there, no large-scale intervention has attempted to augment the caregiving capacities for the infants and the toddlers. 

Close to 250 million children (43% of child population) are at increased risk of not achieving their cognitive developmental potential in the first five years.. India, with 164.5 million children between 0-6 years of age,  accounts for a major portion of these children. Moreover, 74% of children in India reside in villages, are unreachable and unaccounted for. Aiding the development of this sizable, partially invisible population is a mammoth task. The program by Rocket Learning aims to take up this very task.