Though India’s toy market is worth $1.7 billion, 85-90 percent toys sold are made in China. Under NEP 2020, students will be introduced to toy-making from the sixth standard, as part of the government’s effort to boost the toy-making industry.
The $1.7-billion toy market in India is likely to get a boost, once indigenous toy-making is made part of the education framework.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 places special emphasis on local crafts like toy-making to be made part of the academic curriculum.
Sources told Moneycontrol that, as part of the school curriculum, toy- making will be introduced to students from the sixth standard onwards. This will be done through workshops, visits to manufacturing factories as well as through local craftsmen.I urge start-ups and youngsters to focus on innovations in the toys sector. Educational institutions can organise Hackathons on this as well. Another area that we want to focus on is creating toys that are environment friendly.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 22, 2020
Moneycontrol gives you a sneak peek into how the toy-making industry will help develop new skills among students.
The toy industry in India
Though India’s toy market is worth $1.7 billion, almost 85-90 percent toys sold in India is made in China. This is primarily because Chinese toys are sold for a cheap price.
The 145th report of the Parliamentary standing committee on commerce had said in 2018 that the influx of Chinese toys into India has hampered local toy businesses.
The committee also said that these low-priced Chinese toys are either mass-produced or rejects from other countries, diverted to the Indian sub-continent. Concerns were raised about the quality of these Chinese toys and the high-toxicity content.
Support to toy hubs
Sources said that the ultimate aim is to ban the import of finished toys from China and be reliant on locally made toys.
Toy hubs like Channapatana in Karnataka and Rajasthan for puppets, and stuffed toys and unique dolls from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu will be supported.
PM Modi said that through proper technology and innovation, India should manufacture quality products that meet global standards.
Toy clusters will be given a structured policy push.
How toys will be made part of education
As part of the PM’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) mission, the Prime Minister convened a meeting on August 22 to boost toy manufacturing in India.
During the meeting, Modi said that the Indian toy market has a huge potential and can bring a transformative change in the industry by promoting ‘Vocal for Local’ under Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign.
As part of NEP 2020, local crafts like toy-making will be made part of vocational education in schools. Here, the impact of toys on the cognitive and psychomotor skills of children will be looked at. It is likely that expert help will be sought to have structured programmes with academicians and industry experts to introduce toys to students.
Students will also be taken to nearby toy manufacturing factories, units where they will learn about the history of toys, skills required to manufacture them and other aspects of the process like raw materials, manpower and price.
Apart from site visits, students will also be taught in schools about toys of all shapes and sizes. This will be used in both regular schools and rural child-care centres called Anganwadis.
Research report on toys for education
A 2019 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics had showed that toys are important in early child development in relation to their facilitation of cognitive development, language interactions, symbolic and pretend play, problem-solving, social interactions, and physical activity, with increasing importance as children move from infancy into the next stage.
This research report had also showed that pretending through toy characters (dolls, animals, and figures) and associated toy objects (food, utensils, cars, planes, and buildings) can promote the use of words and narratives to imitate, describe, and cope with actual circumstances and feelings.
“Such imaginative play ultimately facilitates language development, self-regulation, symbolic thinking, and social-emotional development. Problem-solving through play with the traditional favorites, such as blocks and puzzles, can support fine motor skills and language and cognitive development and predicts both spatial and early mathematics skills,” the report further stated.
Emphasis on building new forms of toys
Under NEP 2020, students will be encouraged to come up with innovative designs and ideas for toys that can instil a sense of pride in national goals.
Hackathons could be organised across schools and colleges, so students will compete against one another and develop new designs.
It is likely that the winners will be encouraged to work with industry experts to commercially develop these designs. A special emphasis would be given to develop and revive local handicraft toys.
An allied field to toy-making would be gaming. The government is looking to promote this idea at the higher education level, wherein students would develop games (physical and digital) that will be inspired from local folk tales.
These would include regional tales from each state and indigenous tribes as well as Jataka and fables like Panchatantra.