Authors: Het Shah, Associate – User Analytics & Engagement and Prajakta Dandgawhal, Associate – User Analytics & Engagement. Edited by: Apurva Desai
The Anganwadi system was introduced in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme, aimed at combating malnutrition and child hunger. Over time, these grassroots touchpoints have expanded their scope to include supplementary nutrition, preschool education, immunization, health check-ups, community health education, along with referrals for undernourished children. Despite the recent emphasis on early childhood education under the “Poshan bhi, Padhai bhi” scheme, managing Early Childhood Education (ECE) along with the workload associated with these tasks remains challenging. Nonetheless, many Anganwadi workers continue to demonstrate care and dedication to children, recognizing the critical role they play in a child’s life. It is crucial, however, to equip these workers with proper tools and guidance to ensure optimal development and care during the crucial first six years of a child’s life.
While the Anganwadi system of India consisting of 13.96 lakh (1.39 million) managed by 12.9 lakh (1.29 million) Anganwadi workers is the world’s largest community-based child development program, its scalability and successful implementation encounters challenges. The extensive geographical, cultural, and social diversity of India necessitates adaptability, alongside enhancements in governance transparency and accountability. Recognizing the pivotal role played by Anganwadi workers at the grassroots level is imperative, coupled with initiatives to improve their work environment through training, fostering healthy competition, and providing realistic career advancement opportunities. The pressing question remains: how can we achieve these objectives?
Anganwadi workers typically possess only secondary or high-school education, often lacking proficiency in technology, which results in spending excessive time on data entry tasks. However, initiating data collection to establish baseline metrics, followed by real-time monitoring to track ongoing progress, holds significant promise, but deploying a standardized data collection tool may not suffice. This monitoring and evaluation framework needs to be effectively implemented by engaging all relevant local and government stakeholders, including parents, community members, supervisors, Child Development Programme Officers, and District Programme Officers. It’s essential to complement these engagement metrics with actionable insights presented in a format and language tailored to the specific needs of the Anganwadi worker ecosystem.
How does Rocket Learning help?
Data visualization, Goal setting and Insight-led decision making (System catalysts)
Our approach emphasizes transparency and visibility in grassroots operations, keeping government officials informed and engaged at every step.
Using data visualization tools, we create leaderboards and dashboards that offer real-time insights into initiative progress. By granting officials access to these dashboards, they gain a clear understanding of program impact, enabling informed decisions to support and enhance initiatives.
We assist officials in setting ambitious yet achievable goals by defining champion districts or regions, inspiring excellence and highlighting improvement opportunities through data analysis on indicators like Anganwadi-parent engagement. Working closely with officials, we prioritize metrics aligned with their goals, ensuring a targeted approach.
Through our data-driven strategy, we equip officials with tools and insights to take actionable steps, such as prioritizing centers with low educational activity participation among workers based on supervisor bandwidth.
Content, Polls, Peer-learning
In a village in Rajasthan, Mrs. Meera starts her day receiving three concise videos on teaching children to recognize starting sounds of a word, aligned with the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). With a clear plan, she confidently conducts her class at the center where children engage in four hours of learning activities and nutritious meals prepared by the Anganwadi helper.
She completes a language-learning WhatsApp poll daily and documents activities with photos shared in a group chat with her supervisor, who tracks her engagement. This engagement is recognized in quarterly training for performance and provides access to curated ECE concepts and peer-sharing.
An Anganwadi-Parent WhatsApp group fosters parental involvement in guiding home activities and sharing progress with the Anganwadi worker. Rocket Learning’s innovation leverages widespread WhatsApp use in India, requiring 20-30 minutes of both workers’ and parents’ time to prepare and share photos of children’s activities, establishing a robust ECE foundation.
Community at the center, Recognition, Targeted Support
To boost community participation among parents and Anganwadi workers, we use a multi-faceted approach that promotes engagement and recognition.
Through gamification, we turn learning into a rewarding experience, fostering active involvement and healthy competition. We celebrate notable successes by acknowledging and rewarding those who engage effectively, inspiring others to follow suit.
For instance, an Anganwadi worker engaging more than 5 parents earns a Super Anganwadi certificate, while consistent parent engagement earns digital medals.
We stress swift follow-ups with underperforming participants through government officials or our team, providing targeted support and interventions promptly.
In a nutshell, Rocket Learning:
- Empowers government officials with data for impactful change in early childhood education
- Builds a cohesive community involving officials, Anganwadi workers, and parents, emphasizing continuous learning
- Uses dynamic communication tools to manage vast data and drive effective social change
- Maintains updated databases to accommodate regional data management practices and accurately track Anganwadi changes and worker details
- Prioritizes accessible and user-friendly data for all stakeholders
- Institutionalizes processes to establish a robust, scalable framework for sustainable tech solutions in the long term