Bringing a fresh approach to education through play
Life skills are at the centre of a new educational initiative that aims to prepare 28,000 students in Mumbai’s government schools for the challenges of today’s world. In a strong partnership, Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative and social enterprise Rangeet have joined forces to introduce a play-based curriculum that goes beyond textbooks to help children build emotional, social and ecological awareness.
Building Skills That Matter
The programme introduces students to Rangeet’s Social Emotional and Ecological Knowledge (SEEK) curriculum through its digital platform. With activities like storytelling, role play, games, design thinking and group discussions, the curriculum helps students develop critical thinking, communication, emotional resilience and empathy. It also encourages them to reflect on important issues like mental health and climate change.
Rangeet’s life skills model has already reached over five lakh children across India. In Mumbai, what began as a programme for 10,000 children is now expanding to cover 28,000 students, 500 teachers and 50 schools this year.
Why Life Skills Are Essential Today
Pratham and Rangeet believe that life skills are no longer optional. With the world facing problems like climate anxiety, digital addiction, intolerance and shifting job markets, children need more than academic knowledge to succeed. They need skills that will help them care for themselves, their communities and the planet.
The SEEK curriculum fosters agency and wellbeing, aiming to make life skills accessible to all students, not just the privileged. By doing so, the initiative helps close the gap between children in government schools and those in private institutions.
Supporting Teachers and Schools
Teachers play a key role in the success of this programme. Rangeet’s platform was designed with input from thousands of teachers to ensure it fits different school contexts. Teachers receive in-person training, ongoing coaching during classroom visits and help with tracking student progress through real-time data. This support helps teachers create a learning environment where children can thrive.
Farida Lambay, founder of Pratham, shared, “We want our children to be future ready, with self-care skills and a caring attitude. Through this partnership we aim to help them become thoughtful, happy and confident individuals.”
Inspiring Stories of Change
Life skills education through Rangeet has already made a difference in many parts of India. In Uttarakhand, young boys have taken a stand for women’s rights. In Rajasthan, children have led water conservation efforts. In Jharkhand, attendance improves on Rangeet days because children look forward to the lessons. Mumbai is now set to add to these success stories.
Simran Mulchandani, CEO and co-founder of Rangeet, said, “We are delighted to work with Pratham, an organisation we have admired for years. Our goal is to hear many more such success stories, at scale.”
A Step Towards Inclusive Education
Over the past year, Pratham and Rangeet teams have worked closely to identify schools, train teachers and bring this life skills programme to classrooms across Mumbai. The result is an engaging, joyful learning environment where students are eager to participate and ready to grow as leaders of tomorrow.
This partnership is a step forward in making education in India more inclusive and meaningful. It reminds us that true education is about nurturing not just good students but also good human beings.
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