At least 200 Anganwadi centres and 100 schools in West Singhbhum and Gumla districts of Jharkhand are fast adapting to the Government’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) impetus under the Draft National Education Policy 2019.
Change makers, activists and volunteers have become the fulcrum for this change in Tonto block of West Singhbhum and Bharno block of Gumla.
At least 60 Academic Support Fellows (ASFs), trained by Save the Children, an international NGO, regularly visit the Anganwadi Centres and Schools to assist the teachers and Anganwadi Sevikas for imparting necessary education to the children.
The process, NGO workers claim, is a parallel support system which is helping children adapt to the academic changes and expectations in a better way and making the transition easier.
“The National Education Policy 2019 stresses the importance of early education. We also believe that the phase of transition from playschool to school plays a crucial role in a child’s growth.
Our initiative is intended at ensuring that children are ready for school by the time they reach the eligible age,” said Mahadev Hansda, Programme Director, Save the Children, Jharkhand.Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is based on scientific evidence that over 85 per cent of a child’s cumulative brain develops before attaining the age of six years, added Hansda. The draft National Education Policy also mandates at least three years of preschool for every child.
It increases the duration of free and compulsory education by making education mandatory for every child from preschool to class 8. The current law mandates free education from class 1 to class 8 for every child.
Save the Children, which claims to have saved lives of over 10 million children so far, conducted a situational assessment of all the 200 Anganwadi centres and 100 schools in the two blocks before initiating the project.
The assessment included the condition of infrastructure, services, enrolment and human resources at the facilities.Highlighting the importance of preschool for holistic development of children, Hansda said that developing coordination between Anganwadi centres and primary schools was a must for ensuring smooth progress of a child from preschool to primary school. “I think preschool should be seen as a prerequisite for every child,” he said.
Anganwadi centres were started under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) of the centre in 1975 to combat malnutrition and offer child and mother care facilities. It caters to children in the 0-6 age group. There are nearly 40,000 Anganwadi centres scattered across the 24 districts in Jharkhand including the backward ones where malnutrition is rampant.
Jiwani Pushpa Nag, an ASF at Duridta village of Tonto block, shared her experience of bringing positive changes in Anisha, a four and a half year old girl, who remained aloof and did not play like other children.
“I visited the Anisha’s parents and asked Anganwadi workers to pay special attention to her. She is now opening up and showing more interest in the activities we conduct,” said Nag.