India Initiatives

Overview

The GC-DWC has had an operational presence in India since December 2020, leading research and programming in school culture change, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Early Childhood Development (ECD), teacher capacity development, and higher education. Our mission in India is to build, operate, and replicate a Whole Child Development (WCD) model that ensures every child—especially those from marginalized communities—can flourish academically, socially, and emotionally. 

As the GC-DWC’s work in India has grown, Whole Child India was established as a country-based initiative to lead program implementation. In partnership with local governments, academic institutions (including Notre Dame Mumbai), and NGOs, we focus on strengthening the full ecosystem around a child: teachers, schools, families, and communities.

    Project Sampoorna: Nuturing the Whole ChildWCD Wheel

    Background

    In Telangana, India, socio-economic and historical marginalization have created significant educational gaps for children from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Backward Castes (BC). While the state has created infrastructure to bolster these learners, they still face a culture of exclusion, lower expectations, and a lack of resources that support their specific education and developmental needs.

    Project Sampoorna was designed to bridge this gap by partnering with the Telangana Social and Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Societies (TSTWREIS) who operate a network of high-quality residential schools specifically for students from these marginalized backgrounds. Our role is to ensure these schools are not just academic centers, but nurturing ecosystems where students can find safety and belonging.

     

    Our work includes: 

    • A Safe and Inclusive Schools Initiative (SISI): Launched to address bullying and wellbeing concerns, this initiative provides school safety policies, teacher training, and an integrated SEL curriculum in 243 schools.
       
    • The Sampoorna App: A centralized digital hub launched in 2025 that provides nearly 7,000 teachers across 231 schools with SEL guidance and implementation manuals.
       
    • AI-Powered Coaching: We are developing a "virtual instructional coach" that uses audio-visual analysis to provide teachers with immediate, actionable feedback on their classroom performance.

    Higher Education: Revolutionizing Teacher Training

    To create systemic change, the GC-DWC is integrating SEL into the core of teacher education programs in India. These initiatives directly support India's National Education Policy 2020, which calls for holistic child development and social and emotional competency.

     

    Key Initiatives:

    • Course Integration: We have developed and scaled a two-credit course, "A Whole School Approach to SEL," which is now a requirement for Education majors in over 100 colleges affiliated with Osmania and Palamuru Universities. The course utilizes a flipped classroom pedagogical approach where students engage with multimedia content before class, leaving contact hours for problem-solving and discussion.
    • Research Partnership: In 2025, the GC-DWC formalized a long-term research partnership with Osmania University, launching a joint WCD and SEL Research Cluster to generate evidence-based insights for school systems across India.

    Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)

    The GC-DWC has partnered with the Telangana Education Commission (TEC) to foundationally strengthen the state’s learning system for children ages 3–5.

     

    Key Initiatives:

    • Curriculum Review: We conducted a review of the existing pre-primary curriculum and teacher education in Telangana, India, focused on Anganwadi Centers and the Diploma in Pre-School Education (DPSE) program. We provided a series of recommendations focused on aligning curriculum, teacher training, teacher supervision, and opportunities for infrastructure investments. 
       
    • Curriculum Development: We have created a contextualized, play-based pre-primary curriculum for Nursery, Lower Kindergarten (LKG), and Upper Kindergarten (UKG). Our work focuses on integrating literacy, numeracy, and SEL into the earliest years of education, aligning with the brain's most crucial period for development.
       
    • Teacher Pipeline: In collaboration with the Telangana State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), we are developing training for both pre-service and in-service teachers to ensure high-quality implementation of the new curriculum.

    Resources