India’s economic growth depends fundamentally on the quality of its human capital. As the nation targets Viksit Bharat by 2047, success requires a highly productive, skilled, and healthy workforce.
Investment in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), from gestation to age eight, is therefore not a social cost, but a high-return economic investment.
Research confirms that early childhood investments can yield up to 13% annual return on investment, far surpassing returns from later education or job training (Heckmen et al. 2016). These years form the cognitive and socio-emotional foundation for lifelong productivity.
The policy nudge: From survival to school-readiness
Recognising this, the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 restructured the schooling system, establishing the Foundational Stage (ages 3 to 8) as the first five years of formal learning. This shift replaces the previous 10+2 structure with a pedagogical approach that is flexible, play-based, and activity-oriented.
At the heart of this restructuring is the recognition of the importance of school readiness – the point at which a child has developed the essential motor skills (such as physical coordination and fine motor control for writing), socio-emotional skills (including managing feelings, self-control) and cognitive skills (including early literacy, numeracy, and executive functions) required to flourish in a formal school setting. By focusing on these developmental milestones, the NEP 2020 aims to bridge the transition from informal care to structured learning.
The NEP 2020 did not emerge in a vacuum; it is the culmination of decades of incremental policy pushes that have redefined the ECCE landscape in the country. India’s journey began with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in 1975, which established a national network for maternal and child health. Over time, the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and the National ECCE Policy, 2013 expanded this mandate, shifting focus from survival and nutrition to school readiness. A pivotal moment was the emergence of the Balvatika model – a strategic effort to smooth the transition by integrating pre-primary classes directly into the school ecosystem. This has been further solidified by the “Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi” initiative, which reorients Anganwadis3 to ensure that play-based pedagogy is prioritised along with health services. Together, these efforts have institutionalised pre-schooling across the socioeconomic spectrum.
Data reflects this transformation: India is approaching universal “exposure” to pre-schooling. According to Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2024-25, approximately 80% of children admitted to Grade 1 had some institutional pre-school experience, a significant jump from 41% in 2018-19. Whether through Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), private pre-schools, or government-run sections, the “access” problem has largely been solved. However, quality and equity concerns persist.
The quality crisis: A tale of two childhoods
The school-readiness landscape is deeply stratified. While children in private pre-schools often benefit from structured learning, their peers in public centres frequently experience a day focused primarily on routine nutrition with limited cognitive stimulation. Consequently, those relying on public services face a developmental disadvantage driven by three structural constraints:
Workforce overload and the instructional gap: The Anganwadi Worker (AWW) is the backbone of the ICDS but is stretched to a breaking point. Tasked with health tracking, immunisation drives, and nutrition distribution, padhai is frequently sidelined. Studies show that only a fraction of an AWW’s day is available for structured pre-school activities, as time is diverted toward nutrition services and administrative reporting (Vandana et al. 2020, Centre for Research in Schemes and Policies (CRISP), 2025). This instructional gap is a persistent barrier to high-quality foundational learning. Moreover, limited training in the ECCE curriculum often leads to rote memorisation instead of play-based stimulation.
Infrastructural Deficits: Public pre-schools and AWCs frequently operate in learning-neutral environments. UDISE+ data indicates that a significant percentage of these centres lack child-friendly toilets, clean drinking water, and dedicated learning corners.
Under-financing: Government expenditure on ECE in India is only 0.1% of the GDP (gross domestic product), accounting for just 0.39% of the country’s total budgetary outlay. While the average annual public allocation is Rs. 8,297 per child, research from the 2022 Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) suggests that the actual cost for quality ECE services ranges from Rs. 32,531 to Rs. 56,327 per year. This 4-to-6-fold disparity effectively privatises quality education.
Moving from policy intent to implementation
To transition from “exposure” to “readiness”, India must pivot toward strategic investments in early learning:
Prioritising early years: The 0-3 years age group is the most critical stage for brain development, as nearly 80% of a child’s brain is formed by age three. Because maternal education is a primary predictor of learning, India must scale nurturing caregiver interventions to bridge the home-learning gap. Research in Odisha (Andrew et al. 2018) demonstrated that mother-child group sessions were as effective as intensive home visits in improving cognition, but at only 28% of the cost. These stimulation models provide parents with tools for play-based learning and act as a vital bridge to the 3-6 year phase, ensuring children enter pre-school with the readiness required to fully benefit from the NEP 2020 Foundational Stage.
Professionalising workforce: Adding workforce to existing centres can yield immediate gains. A 2022 J-PAL evaluation in Tamil Nadu (Ganimian et al. 2022) found that hiring an additional worker focused solely on pre-school education doubled instructional time and significantly boosted math and language scores. Rather than training existing overburdened workers, the discussion must move toward structural support either by providing AWWs with digital tools like DIKSHA for “just-in-time” learning or by hiring dedicated ECCE facilitators. This allows the AWW to focus on vital health and nutrition (Poshan) while ensuring the educational (Padhai) component is not neglected.
Co-location of Anganwadis with schools: Co-locating Anganwadis within primary school premises has proven to mitigate the transition shock children face when moving from nutrition-centric centres to formal classrooms. While nearly 290,000 centres have already been co-located, this model must be expanded to achieve national scale. Evidence from pioneer states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh demonstrates that co-location creates familiarity, significantly reducing absenteeism, and boosting school-readiness scores. Expanding this model and formally integrating the Balvatika (Preparatory) year into school management ensures a seamless 3-8 age continuum. Operationally, this requires an institutional mandate for joint budgetary planning, shared accountability, and sustained cooperation between Departments of Education and Women and Child Development at both national and state levels.
Institutionalising data-driven accountability: Finally, success must be measured by developmental milestones rather than just enrolment. Strengthening data convergence by linking the Poshan Tracker (health/nutrition) with UDISE+ (schooling) would allow for longitudinal tracking of school-readiness outcomes. Utilising assessments like NIPUN Bharat to provide feedback to teachers and parents, will shift the system towards an outcomes-driven culture, ensuring that every rupee invested translates into measurable human capital.
The challenge is no longer one of policy intent – the blueprint for a world-class ECCE system exists within the NEP 2020. The task now is implementation fidelity. With these strategic shifts, India can ensure that every child starts the race at the same starting line. This is the most vital economic investment for the realisation of Viksit Bharat, Sashakt Bharat.
This article first published by Ideas for India (I4I).
Namrata Saraogi serves as a Social Sector Specialist at the Asian Development Bank. Gi Soon Song is Director, Human and Social Development Sector at Asian Development Bank (ADB). Views are personal.