Early childhood education through the ages

Numerous studies on early childhood education indicate a positive effect on the child's cognitive and social development. The Mozambique study infers that preschool education improves cognitive and fine motor development, leading to higher school readiness levels, significantly increasing the primary schools' enrolment. A Chicago based research demonstrates that economically backward children with early childhood experience are better prepared for school entry. Reviewing the effects of early childhood education in three continents, Berger claimed that early intervention enhances children's capacity to learn, improving their later elementary school performances. However, the positive results of early childhood education observed worldwide are not evident in India. The Indian Early Childhood Education Impact Study and the ASER 2019 Early Years revealed that the four and five-year-old children are far below the required cognitive and language domains, the preschools severely academic and concentrate heavily on teaching 3R's. The extreme academic burden on the children led to the prevalent assumption that westernised preschool education may not be suitable for the Indian condition. Hence, the conservatives advise the schools to get back to the Vedic Gurukula system. The current article presents the history of early childhood education from the hunter-gatherers to the Indian colonial era.