Bachpan Beacons is a six-month inquiry cohort by Bachpan Manao, running July to December 2026. We are looking for 15 (fifteen) to 20 (twenty) young people from across India who are rooted in a community where children live and grow, and who want to spend 6 (six) months listening closely to the people who care for those children every day.
Each participant is a Beacon. Over six months, Beacons go into childhood spaces around them to have conversations with the adults who surround childhood: parents, grandparents, teachers, frontline workers, community caregivers of every kind. They bring back what they hear. They learn alongside a national cohort doing the same work across different contexts. And together, the cohort builds something that no single organisation or individual could build alone: a picture of what care for childhood actually looks like across India, in its full diversity.
You do not need to work in early childhood to apply. You need to be rooted in a community where children are, and curious enough to look closely at what the adults around those children carry.
Why this inquiry, why now
Bachpan Manao’s commitment this year is to understand what care for childhood looks like across India, across geographies and communities beyond our own existing network and gaze. The people who know most about what childhood needs are the people who are with children every day. Their knowledge shapes every child in their orbit. It rarely shapes the decisions made about those children.
Bachpan Beacons is how that changes. The inquiry is deliberately designed to go beyond BM’s own geographies, known actors, and existing perspective. Every Beacon brings a context we do not already have. That is the point.
What you will actually do
Each month, the cohort gathers online for two hours. The first hour is built around one of five inquiry questions: what it means, how to explore it in your community, what to listen for. The second hour is a skill-building session in one of four areas: qualitative observation, one-to-one conversations, group facilitation, or convening and synthesis.
Between sessions, each Beacon goes into their community and spends time with the caring adults there. Depending on the question and the context, this might mean sitting with a parent at an anganwadi, observing a classroom, having a one-to-one conversation with a community teacher, or gathering a small group of caregivers for an open conversation. You write a short journal entry on what you heard, and bring it back to the cohort the following month.
The methods are taught. You do not need prior experience in research or facilitation to apply. You need to be able to show up in your community, ask questions, and pay close attention to the answers.
The five questions
These are the questions the cohort will explore, one per month, across six months. They are designed to surface what caring adults know about childhood that no survey or policy document currently captures.
- What have you figured out about being a caregiver/caring adult/educator on your own that nobody taught you?
- What is the moment you almost stopped this work or playing this role? Or, what do the moments of sheer exhaustion look like?
- What does this child have here or in this space that they wouldn’t have anywhere else?
- What do you need to do this work or contribute to this role better that you have never been offered?
- What does this child need for their wellbeing that you can’t provide alone?
Where you get celebrated
Named co-authorship in a published collective report, written by all Beacons and their organisations, drawing on community conversations from across India. Monthly skill-building sessions in qualitative observation, one-to-one conversations, group facilitation, and synthesis. A national peer cohort of young practitioners doing the same inquiry across different geographies and sectors. Spotlight across relevant Bachpan Manao platforms throughout the cohort period. Access to the Bachpan Manao CollabActor network. The inquiry methodology, documented and available for you and your organisation to use independently after the cohort ends.
Who should apply
You are roughly 24 to 28 years old. You are rooted in a community where children live and grow, whether through your work, your studies, or where you live. You are curious about what the adults around those children carry, and willing to go and ask them. You do not have to work in a non-profit. You do not have to have a background in early childhood. You have to be able to show up, listen carefully, and bring back something honest.
Organisations can nominate team members. Individuals can apply directly.
Timeline
Applications open: July 06 2026.
Cohort begins: July 20 2026
Cohort closes: December 2026
FAQ
Do I need experience in research or fieldwork? No. The cohort teaches the methods. What you bring is rootedness in a community and the willingness to use it.
What is the time commitment? Two hours a month for the virtual cohort session, and time in your community for one facilitated conversation per month. The total commitment is roughly four to five hours a month.
What community do I need access to? Any community where children live and the adults who care for them are present. This could be a school, an anganwadi, a neighbourhood, a residential colony, a slum, a village, a tribal community, a migrant worker settlement. If children are there and you have a genuine relationship with the community, that is enough.
Can I apply if I am a student? Yes. Students with genuine community access and the ability to commit to the six-month cohort are welcome to apply.
What is the language of the cohort? Cohort sessions will be conducted in English and Hindi. Field conversations can happen in any language.
What happens to the conversations I have in my community? Everything is handled with consent and care. The inquiry methodology includes clear guidance on how to have conversations ethically, how to document them, and how community members’ voices are represented in the final report. Nothing is published without consent.
What is the collective output? One published report, co-authored by all Beacons and their organisations, drawing on community conversations from across India and answering the five inquiry questions across diverse contexts. All authors and their organisations are named and spotlighted.
What if my organisation wants to nominate more than one person? We are keeping the cohort to fifteen to twenty people to protect the quality of the peer learning. One nomination per organisation in this first cohort.
Is there a stipend? There is no stipend. The value is in the skill-building, the peer cohort, the named authorship, and the methodology you walk away with
)
