Strong foundations in the early years are critical for a child’s lifelong learning and wellbeing. Yet learning gaps remain, particularly for children from marginalised communities, limiting their ability to read, learn, and progress confidently through school.
ChildFund India’s work on foundational learning and holistic education focuses on ensuring that children aged 3–14 years are school-ready, confident, and able to thrive. Under this focus area, the PENCIL Program Model, Protective, Effective and Context-based Initiation of Learning, strengthens foundational literacy and numeracy while also building social and emotional skills and self-protection abilities. By combining classroom transformation, teacher support, and community engagement, the program creates inclusive learning environments that support every child’s development.
The program supports early childhood care and education as well as age- and grade-appropriate learning, helping children build strong literacy and numeracy skills at the right stages.
Children are supported to develop self-awareness, resilience, empathy, and positive relationships, enabling them to succeed both inside and outside the classroom.
Learning spaces are improved through child-friendly teaching methods, multilingual libraries, and active community participation, making classrooms more inclusive and stimulating.
Teachers and facilitators receive training, tools, and ongoing support to deliver engaging, child-centred instruction that responds to children’s learning needs.
Children are encouraged to learn first in their mother tongue before transitioning to regional and national languages. In parallel, the program works with governments and partners to integrate proven practices into education systems and support long-term scale.
54% of children in target schools and communities demonstrating improved learning outcomes, compared to 26% in 2019
73% of teachers showing stronger capacity to support social and emotional learning
32% of children demonstrating improved social and emotional learning competencies
76% of children learning in enriched, multilingual, and participative environments that are free from violence
Children aged 6 to 18 years in government schools in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, along with teachers supporting holistic learning.
Across 32 schools, higher proportions of children demonstrated key social and emotional skills, including empathy (60.9%), stress management (55%), relationship skills (55%), perseverance (46.74%), and constructive conflict resolution (52%).
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