Aga Khan Education Service, India

The Aga Khan Education Service (AKES), India manages eight pre-primary sections as part of traditional K-12 schools and 19 standalone preschools in the rural, peri-urban and urban areas of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana.

Parenting Enrichment Programmes

In addition to pre-primary education, we offer parenting enrichment programmes, such as the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Reading for Children programme, which supports ongoing access to quality children’s books and promotes reading as a culture in school and at home with parents/caregivers and other family members. This programme encourages parents to engage their children in books and reading in ways that are mutually fulfilling.

Child-Initiated Learning

In 2001 AKES, India developed the Shishu Pahel Padhati (child-initiated learning) methodology, which forms the foundation of all curriculum activities and is aligned to the internationally recognised HighScope preschool curriculum. This approach has been successfully implemented and scaled up as part of other AKDN programmes in the country, notably in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It is being used by AKDN as part of a government anganwadi (childcare centre) quality improvement programme in Gujarat.

AKES, India also encourages its parents, teachers and community members to collaborate for the benefit of the children in their communities, ensuring a holistic, developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant learning environment for young children. AKES, India focuses on continuous quality improvement through global best practices to create a safe and nurturing learning environment for children, while also addressing their developmental needs.

Supporting the Early Childhood Community

Continuous professional development and cross-country collaborative work is a hallmark of professional learning for our pre-primary teachers. Teachers are encouraged to collaborate with their peers within and across states to share knowledge, develop their practice and co-create curriculum content based on learning outcomes at each grade level.

AKES, India extends its support to the broader early childhood community as a core group member for ECD of the Women and Child Welfare Ministry of Gujarat, supporting anganwadi staff and leadership. AKES, India has been providing training and mentoring support to staff and supervisors to improve care, education and learning outcomes.

As part of the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), the Government of India has recently approved the National Curriculum Framework for Foundation Stage for India. AKES, India is on the team that is reviewing, contextualising and sharing all the resources for the National Curriculum Framework for Foundation Stage in Gujarat, tailored to the needs of the state.

Rankings

AKES, India was ranked by EducationWorld India as a “Most Respected Early Childhood Education Brand” in 2020-2021 (fifth at the national level). EducationWorld India is one of the largest and most in-depth school ratings and rankings surveyors in the country. Aga Khan preschools have also been ranked amongst the top 10 preschools across the country and have won many of EducationWorld India’s Preschool Grand Jury Awards in the areas of campus design excellence, best teaching learning resources, nature-friendly preschool, reading culture, future-ready preschool and outstanding leadership.

Aga Khan Foundation

In 2013, a 10-country study of AKF’s ECD programmes found that in most cases preschool children with one to two years of preschool education scored on average about 10 percentage points better on achievement tests than children without this experience and were much more prepared for school compared to other students entering school at the same age.

AKF strengthens the capacity of frontline health, education and social protection workers for holistic ECD and play-based learning in ECD centres. This includes supporting the government at local and national levels.

AKF promotes an understanding of the importance of ECD amongst parents, caregivers and other community members, to create demand for quality ECD services. The Foundation trains parents and caregivers on responsive caregiving, early learning and the basics of health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene.

Special emphasis is placed on ensuring programmes reach girls and other marginalised groups. AKF also strengthens community platforms, particularly women’s groups, and builds integration with women’s economic empowerment interventions to enhance ECD outcomes.