It’s a strong foundation of primary education that will take India forward

livemint.com:

anganwadi coverage is high starting at age 3 and remains high till well after age 5. In others, private pre-schools dominate even in rural areas. In still others, government primary schools have included pre-primary grades.

Based on available resources and emerging priorities, some state governments have begun to strengthen early childhood education (ECE) training within the anganwadi structure. Others are busy improving the in-school pre-primary structure and teaching-learning processes. Regardless of how the institutional delivery is done, efforts to systematically bring in the 3-6 age group into the continuum must continue.

It is worth noting that across the board, there has been a universal push to standardize age of entry into Std 1. Children coming into the formal system before age 6 can be a disadvantage. Children must be “ready"—cognitively, socially and emotionally to cope with what is required of them in the early grades of primary school.

The early childhood years have also seen interesting innovations in the last two years. In particular, school systems in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have been actively encouraging young parents, especially mothers, to participate in their children’s learning journeys. Holistic and “continuum" report cards in government schools are helping families understand that building strong foundations is not only about numeracy and literacy; children’s development requires a breadth of skills that includes cognitive growth, socio-emotional resilience and a variety of physical and motor skills.