Our planet heralded the emergence of a ‘new normal’ as norms of living got redefined. But the childhood pandemic that denies children their Right to Play has barely waned. Along with the question about children’s mental health, poverty is being experienced beyond physical deprivation. Children bore the brunt of adult frustration as domestic violence, financial hardships and substance abuse spiked in homes. We amplified our work through the digital Play2Learn Programme guided by the principle that play is preventive and not a reactive engagement.
As schools functioned online, we suddenly found a window into the homes of children while parents and grandparents directly experienced the value of play through our digital programme. Mothers felt calmer as play-based activities made children more communicative and teachers roped Toybank into the parent-teacher Whatsapp groups. Our organisation-level operation was strengthened during this challenging year to achieve greater efficiency translating into increasing outreach numbers through better resource utilisation. With India’s National Education Policy emphasising the role of play in early development, our play programme has gained momentum. We focussed on strengthening the backend, integrating all functions with Zoho, and collaborating for better monitoring and evaluation through logical framework analysis. The year in review has been all about clearly defining the roadmap and developing navigation strategies that can culminate into the realisation of the Right to Play for India’s children.
We amplified our work through the digital Play2Learn Programme guided by the principle that play is preventative and not a reactive engagement.
– SHWETA CHARI, COFOUNDER AND CEO, TOYBANK
