Hyderabad-based NGO working towards bringing equity in early childhood education at government Aided School

Hyderabad: Youngistaan Foundation’s Education Program launched the ‘Foundational Learning Program - Building a strong foundation in the Early Years’ at Rabindra Niketan High School, a government-aided school in Punjagutta, Hyderabad on Saturday.

The organization has been working with the school for almost a decade and has now developed an early learning program, implementing a play-based curriculum and continuous teacher professional development for the academic year 2023-24.

In the last four months, the organization conducted a baseline survey, and teacher training workshops, supporting teachers to execute the daily lesson plans. Today, the organization inaugurated their program inviting parents to help understand the vision and the benefits of the developmentally appropriate program. One of the parents after the programs, Akbar, said, “I got goosebumps looking at my children learn in such an interactive and activity-based way. I know this will help them learn in a much better way, and in the long run, this will benefit them too.”

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has called the attainment of foundational literacy and numeracy for all children “an urgent national mission”. Youngistaan firmly believes that all young children must have access to robust schools that support and strengthen their physical, cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional development.

Speaking to the Education Program Head Neha Mathur, “To address systemic issues such as poor teacher education in ECCE, lack of continuous professional development for in-service teachers, and developmentally inappropriate pre-primary curriculum and pedagogy, we have developed a multi-pronged approach including multilingual pedagogies and intensive teacher coaching for the holistic development of our early learners”

Founder and Director of Youngistaan Foundation, Arun Daniel Yellamaty, expressed their unwavering commitment to the organization's mission:

"Education is the key to unlocking a brighter future for all. At Youngistaan Foundation, we believe that every child, no matter where they come from, should have the chance to learn, grow, and thrive. Our commitment to making lives better has no limits, and we're dedicated to creating a world where every young heart is filled with hope, knowledge, and limitless possibilities," he adds, "Over the years, we've supported various childcare centres, communities, and government schools, even running a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) program in an urban slum. We aspire to extend these programs FLN & SEL to even more platforms and touch more lives. We request more support from the donors and CSR partners to support us in this journey.”