In December 2019, Ceenu Jebaraj's three-year-old daughter was excited at the thought of going to school in a few months.
But by the time her classes were scheduled to begin, India had entered into a national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Even when the lockdown was eased months later, schools remained closed across the country. Some states attempted to open educational institutions over the past two years, but successive waves thwarted their efforts.
Ms Jebaraj's daughter, now five, has logged into Zoom for over 600 days to attend what she has come to know as school. She is among some 42 million Indian children who were affected by school closures at the pre-primary level.