Families are a child’s first teachers, shaping values, habits, and the earliest steps in learning. When parents are meaningfully engaged, children gain confidence and experience a continuity of support and learning between home and school. By participating actively in their child’s education, families create a supportive environment that lays the foundation for long-term learning and well-being.
Parental involvement in the early years is one of the strongest predictors of children’s learning outcomes and long-term success (UNICEF, 2018). In India, this recognition is reflected in the National Education Policy (2020), which underscores the critical role of parents and families in the foundational stage and calls for stronger school–home partnerships. Yet for many families, especially in low-income and rural contexts, intent does not always translate into action. Parents want to support their children’s learning but often face constraints of time, literacy, and resources that limit how much they can do at home.
Ahvaan believes that our children’s education is a partnership between parents, teachers and children. Our strategies for parental engagement build parents’ understanding around how children learn in the early years and how parental involvement and support deepens their learning. We thrive to bridge the intent–action gap experienced by parents by increasing home-based learning support and strengthening partnerships between schools and families.
Our work in parent engagement over the years spans direct interventions such parent orientation sessions, parent workshops, summer camps, guiding educators on effective communication with parents and creation of parent handbooks. More recently we have launched a tech-enabled parent engagement pilot in Chhattisgarh to enhance home based learning support for children in the age group 5-6. Our work in parent engagement is informed by regular structured interactions with families from some of the most underserved communities, household surveys, as well as data gathered from our parent-facing interventions.
Read more about Ahvaan’s approach to Parent Engagement here Download
"No one had ever asked us what we want for our children’s early education. We are busy with work and household responsibilities, but we are eager to support our children in their education. When someone listens to us and shows us how we can support children, it gives us the confidence to be part of their learning."
