Early childhood care and education support the holistic development of children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical needs, helping to build a solid foundation for their lifelong learning and wellbeing. HOPE supports 4 crèche which provide early childhood education and supplementary nutrition for children below 6 years of age. The project ensures that children living in slums in Kolkata and Howrah, who are without parental care for long periods of time during the day, can attend the crèche and eventually be enrolled in school.

The crèches give the children the opportunity to engage in friendly and joyful learning through play. The teachers focused on making them easily understandable and activity-based, using Froebel methodologies. The parents were motivated to send their children to the crèche and encouraged to help their children practice their learning at home. In addition to providing educational support, health check-ups and de-worming camps were held for the children. Awareness programmes were conducted for the parents and children, to inform them about children’s rights, protection, and the importance of education. Efforts were made to involve the fathers in the meetings, thereby ensuring their involvement in the care and education of the children.