Getting the focus back on Early Childhood Education
The home environment and stimulation children receive within the household can be important contributory factors
This opinion was published in The Hindu on October 29, 2021.
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About the Authors
Pooja Pandey was a Senior Resident Fellow working with the education team. She has completed her post graduation in Development (with a specialization in law, policy and governance) from Azim Premji University, Bangalore. She has earlier worked with Participatory Research in Asia as the India coordinator for UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research(CBR) and Social Responsibility of Higher Education. She has led and managed the overall coordination of 20 global Knowledge for Change (K4C) hubs across 14 countries to develop capacities on CBR and participatory research methodologies. She has managed the India based research and dissemination operations of the RRING project, funded by the EU and she also assisted the drafting and launch of the National Framework of Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan 2.0 under University Grants Commission(UGC). Her area of interest includes education governance, identity, and participatory research methodologies.
Nisha was a Senior Resident Fellow and lead Vidhi's work in the area of Education. She has completed her postgraduation from SOAS, University of London with an MSc in Development Economics, and received her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Symbiosis School of Economics. Prior to Vidhi, she has worked as a project coordinator and research assistant at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, London and Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, respectively on multiple projects relating to early childhood and elementary education, education policy, and gender. Some of these projects include working on understanding implementation of Right to Education, Act (specifically the provision under Section 12.1.c or the “25% mandate”) in Ahmedabad, parental preferences for private schools among low-income households, and the impact of a pre-school curriculum and pedagogical intervention in angwandis in rural Odisha. She regularly writes on topics of gender and education for media outlets such as The Wire, Ideas for India and The Quint, among others.
Karan Singhal is currently working as a visiting researcher at Luxembourg Institute of Socioeconomic Research (LISER) and a doctoral student at University of Luxembourg. He was previously associated with Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad as a Research Officer where he led projects on topics in urban governance, education and early childhood.
