Kolkata, June 25: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), ECHO India and Child in Need Institute (CINI) marked a significant milestone in their partnership aimed at strengthening early childhood education and foundational learning among children attending KMC-run centres.
The partners jointly released the Midline Report of the Early Childhood Education Programme, documenting the progress, learnings and outcomes of the initiative implemented across KMC Shishu Shiksha Kendras.
The programme focuses on strengthening the knowledge, skills and confidence of Sahayikas and frontline educators who play a critical role in the care, learning and development of young children. Using the ECHO model of virtual mentoring and knowledge sharing, the initiative enables educators to access continuous learning opportunities without leaving their workplaces.
The report was unveiled by Dr. Tapan Kumar Mukherjee, Honorary Advisor (Health), KMC; Mr. Siddhartha Sankar Dhara, Chief Manager (Education), KMC; Dr. Sandeep Bhalla, Vice President, ECHO India; Mr. Sujoy Roy, Lead – Injury Prevention and National Advocacy, CINI, and Mr. Manit Singh, Media Advisor & Social Activist, along with other distinguished guests.
The collaboration represents an important expansion of successful capacity-building approaches previously implemented in the health sector into the education sector, with a special focus on early childhood literacy and foundational learning.
Speaking on the occasion, Sujoy Roy of CINI said,
“At CINI, we believe that building a child-friendly society begins with investing in those who nurture and educate children. This partnership demonstrates how knowledge can move, not people, helping strengthen public systems and improve learning opportunities for every child.”
Officials said the initiative seeks to address foundational learning challenges by strengthening the capacities of educators through continuous online mentoring, peer learning and practical knowledge exchange. The programme has been implemented through the collaboration of KMC’s Education Department, ECHO India and CINI, combining government leadership, technical expertise and community engagement.
The event also acknowledged the contributions of programme teams and frontline workers, including the efforts of Ms. Sayani Adhikari of CINI, whose field-level coordination supported the implementation of the initiative.
Representatives of the partner organizations indicated that the collaboration could be expanded to additional thematic areas, including foundational literacy and numeracy, socio-emotional learning and teacher well-being. The initiative is increasingly being viewed as an example of how digital knowledge-sharing platforms can support large-scale capacity building within public systems while minimizing disruptions to frontline services.
The programme concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Manit Singh, Media Advisor & Social Activist, who acknowledged the commitment of the partner organizations and emphasized the importance of continued collaboration to strengthen educational outcomes and support the development of child-friendly communities across Kolkata.