Situation

Ekstep Foundation has been working in early childhood to bring about more equality across India. They have made several efforts to get carers more involved, but the response has been disappointing.

Brief

To help spur demand for better ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) and drive behaviour change for a stronger foundation for India.

Objectives

Ignite - Raise the level of conversation on early childhood

Interact – Build an ecosystem committed to best practices driven early childhood care and education through connections between implementation actors, researchers, market players, designers, policy actors, civil society, and others.

Invite – Get carers to recognise this golden opportunity of the early years as the ideal time for learning and growth and to change behaviour in these years. This will help build a strong foundation for their children and India’s future.

This mission is a solid and lasting step against inequity.

Climb

We see a group of children, holding something in their hand, as they climb a mountain together. We see one kid annoying the other, another helping the other, and one who is taken in by the starkness of a bare tree. Another child is attracted to a bunch of flowers. As he gets closer, he sees that the centre of the flower looks like a monkey’s face and is stunned by nature’s surprises.

The film helped carers take a step back and reflect on how they approach early childhood. It created more attention and interest in the work being done in this sector. And it helped get more partnerships and initiatives funded across India.

The 'Bachpan Manao, Badhte Jao' brand has become a rallying cry to embrace these early years and help children and India get a stronger foundation.

Ignite: 42,000 screenings across 1,000 theatres in 113 cities across 24 states of India.

Invite: Brought together a collaborative of over 100 corporates and non-profits to further the mission.

As a result of this work, we have been able to contribute towards larger policy discourses such as the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage and support various government-led public goods like ‘The e- Jaduui Pitara’ (The Magic Box), which is a digital aid for early childhood and foundational learning.