Centre to Relocate 11 Lakh Anganwadis to School Campuses

Rapid Summary

• On September 3, 2025, the Union government issued guidelines to facilitate co-location of approximately 11 lakh anganwadis with primary schools.
• As of now, around 2.9 lakh anganwadis out of the total 14 lakh have been co-located with nearby schools; nearly 11 lakh remain unmapped.
• The Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Women and Child Development (mowcd) aim to ensure smoother transitions from early childhood education to formal schooling in Class 1 through this initiative.
• A curriculum for children aged three to six years, titled ‘Aadharshila,’ has been released to align learning activities between anganwadis and schools.
• The guidelines call for integrating child data systems like Poshan Tracker and UDISE+ for better interoperability under a unified ID system from birth onwards.
• Co-location challenges include inadequate access to school facilities like electricity or kitchens for AWCs and limited convergence between programs in some places despite physical proximity.

Indian Opinion analysis

The government’s effort to co-locate anganwadis with primary schools represents a significant push toward strengthening the foundational pillars of childhood learning in India. This alignment could benefit economically disadvantaged children by easing their transition into formal education systems while creating uniformity in pre-primary curricula through initiatives like ‘Aadharshila.’ However, systemic challenges such as lack of infrastructure provisions within schools for relocated AWCs require critical evaluation.

By proposing unified tracking IDs linked from birth onward, the guidelines showcase an attempt at enhanced administrative efficiency. Still,execution will determine its utility given the scale involved-managing over 14 lakh anganwadis alongside millions of schoolchildren is a logistical challenge requiring seamless coordination among various stakeholders.

The success of this initiative also depends on addressing community-specific factors such as travel distance limits imposed on pregnant women or caretakers accessing these services. Ensuring full convergence-not just physical proximity-will be key if meaningful educational outcomes are desired across urban and rural contexts alike.

For more details: The Hindu