Father's Day: A Reminder of their Crucial Role in Children's Growth

Father's Day is a time to celebrate and honor the fantastic dads whose unparalleled love illuminates their children's lives. Their unwavering support and strength testify to the boundless capacity of their hearts. They are their children's first heroes and role models.

At Rocket Learning, we believe they can also be their children's first educators. Fathers' participation in early childhood education is paramount for their children's holistic growth. Research shows that father’s participation helps in:

• Cognitive development
• Higher IQ scores and improved academic performance
• Language development

However, due to age-old gendered norms, fathers leave most of the childcare work to the mothers, especially in developing countries like India where patriarchal beliefs heavily influence the division of household labor.?

At Rocket Learning, we challenge these stereotypes and beliefs in several ways to encourage fathers' participation and convey the critical nature of equal parenting.

• Our content design incorporates a strong gender lens. Our videos portray fathers as equal partners alongside their spouses, deeply involved in their child's education. We address both parents in all our educational lessons starting with “Namaste Maata Pita (Greetings, Moms and Dads).
• We conduct behavior change campaigns like "Karni ho Bacchon ki Puri Taiyaari, To Zaroori hai Mata Pita Dono ki Bhagidari” (Both moms and dads should be involved in the child's education to ensure complete development)"

Our continued efforts have also increased father engagement; about 20% of our registered parent users or more than 300,000 users are fathers.

"My child and I are benefitting a lot through E-Pathshala (Rocket Learning's digital classroom)," Naveen, father of a five-year-old son enrolled in our cohort, said. "My child can now identify colors and is better at Hindi, English, Math, and other physical activities," he added.

Fathers in our program have found new ways to connect with their children after enrolling in our digital classroom.

"Mothers are always there for their kids; she gives them a lot of time. But when fathers start doing it, too, kids will appreciate it as well," Firoz, who spends an hour learning with his four-year-old daily, said.?

"Kids will start studying harder seeing that both parents are making so much effort."

We are also constantly pushing our boundaries to innovate and bring community-wide change through new initiatives. For this upcoming Father's Day, we are launching a uniquely designed four-week behavior-change campaign titled #SuperDad that promotes fathers' active involvement in their children's education. For instance, the third week of the campaign, called "Papa ke Pakwan" (Father's Day Dishes), showcases fathers and children cooking their favorite snacks or dishes using readily available ingredients at home.

Stay tuned for videos of children cooking with their dads!

Policy Updates

Our co-founder, Utsav Kheria, had the incredible opportunity to participate in the esteemed G20 FLN State Panel in Uttar Pradesh. As part of India's G20 Presidency, the Ministry of Education organized the Janbhagidari (public participation) events to accelerate the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (#NIPUN ) and #FLN . Utsav contributed as a panelist in the enlightening 'Role of Edtech in FLN' discussion alongside eminent representatives.

We are immensely proud to have been invited to join forces with these organizations. We are united in our mission to provide every child in India with access to top-notch early childhood education.

Rocket Learning’s Work Around the Country

Rocket Learning is making an even more significant impact in western India as we expand into two new districts: Sri Ganganagar and Tonk in Rajasthan, increasing our reach by more than 100,000 parents and children. We are also training 7,184 Anganwadi (daycare) workers to become exceptional educators through our teacher training product.

Funder Spotlight

In celebration of Father's Day this month, we are delighted to spotlight three of our esteemed funders. The Sarva Mangal Family Trust (SMFT) , Pilot House, and Ananta-Om Foundation, who have been incredible allies in our mission, anchoring our work and providing invaluable guidance.

They are staunch advocates for gender equity and equality, recognizing the importance of involving fathers in their children's learning journey. We are immensely grateful to the Pilot House, Ananta-Om Foundation, and SMFT for their unwavering dedication to the cause and tireless efforts to foster positive change. Their support empowers us to make a meaningful impact in the lives of children and families.

Browse Through Our Impact Stories

• Arun and Mayur (Father and son duo)
• Neetu and Yug (Mother and daughter duo)
• Tamanna (Anganwadi worker)
• Aruna (Anganwadi worker)

We Are Making Headlines

• Times of India: The need to reshape parental behavior in ECCE
• India Development Review: Making EdTech work in low resource settings

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• Helping India Achieve the World’s First Universal High- Quality Education Ecosystem
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