The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has launched a new application called E-Jaadui Pitara, aimed at parents and teachers of children in the foundational stage. The application provides digital access to learning and teaching resources and uses artificial intelligence-based tools to help users get responses to education-related queries.
The E-Jaadui Pitara is linked to the original Jaadui Pitara, a play-based learning and teaching material introduced by the Ministry of Education in February 2023 under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The e-Jaadui Pitara is designed for children aged three to eight years and focuses on learning through play.
What is Jaadui Pitara?
Jaadui Pitara is a collection of learning and teaching materials developed for children at the foundational stage. It includes toys, puzzles, puppets, posters, flash cards, storybooks, worksheets and play-based learning resources. The material is designed to make learning more interactive and encourage children’s curiosity while taking into account their local environment, culture and language.
The initiative is based on the foundational-stage approach of learning through play. It covers different areas of a child’s development, including physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, language and literacy, and aesthetic and cultural development. The approach also applies to Classes 1 and 2, covering children in the six-to-eight-year age group.
What is E-Jaadui Pitara?
E-Jaadui Pitara takes these learning resources into a digital format. According to Ministry of Education, the platform includes activities, stories, rhymes, songs, puzzles, cards, audiobooks, toys, games and charts that parents and teachers can use to plan age-appropriate activities. It is available through a mobile application and website.
The platform also includes AI-based bots named Katha Sakhi, Parent Tara and Teacher Tara. These tools are intended to assist users with queries related to foundational-stage education and resources such as the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS), NEP 2020 and the Unmukh trainer handbook.
The digital initiative is therefore an extension of the same play-based learning approach followed by Jaadui Pitara. Instead of depending only on physical learning materials, E-Jaadui Pitara provides parents and teachers with digital activities and supporting resources that can be accessed through technology.
The Ministry has also highlighted the importance of making foundational learning material available in Indian languages and mother tongues. Jaadui Pitara materials have been translated into multiple Indian languages, with digital resources being made available through platforms including DIKSHA.
