Addressing Implementation Challenges in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) under NEP 2020: Insights from Educational Practices and the Role of Balvatikas

Abstract

 Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) plays a vital role in the holistic development of children and serves as the foundation for lifelong learning. Quality ECCE programmes support children’s intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development through play-based and child-centred approaches. Recognizing its significance, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 places strong emphasis on ECCE. NEP 2020 advocates strengthening early learning through improved curriculum design, innovative pedagogical practices, better infrastructure, and enhanced community participation. The policy’s 5+3+3+4 curricular structure acknowledges the foundational stage as critical for learning and development, ECCE programmes also foster early language, literacy, and numeracy skills along with socio-emotional competence, collaboration, moral values, and creativity through activity-based learning, thereby preparing children for school readiness and lifelong learning. In this context, initiatives such as Balvatikas have been introduced to strengthen the preparatory stage by providing structured, child-centred, and activity-based learning experiences before Grade 1. However, despite these progressive measures, the effective implementation of ECCE under NEP 2020 faces various challenges. Therefore, the present paper examines the implementation challenges of ECCE under NEP 2020, draws insights from existing educational practices, and explores the emerging role of Balvatikas in strengthening the foundational stage of education in India.