The Woman and Child Development Department has decided to develop one Anganwadi Kendra from each development block as a Bal Shiksha Kendra. In the first phase, Bal Shiksha Kendras have been started in 313 Anganwadi Kendras. Preparations are being made for the pre-primary education of children up to 6 years of age.
Regulatory guidelines regarding care and education in early childhood are being prepared by the Department of Women and Child Development. Through this, pre-primary institutions being run for proper development of children in the age group up to 6 years in Government and private sectors will be regulated, monitored and evaluated.
Pre-school education policy and regulatory guidelines are also being made at the state level. A month-wise curriculum of 19 subjects for the children in the 3-6 age group coming to the anganwadi kendras has been fixed. This includes self-identification, my house, personal hygiene, colour and shape, temperature and environment, birds and animals, means of transport, safety rules, our helpful weather, self-confidence of children and our festivals. Three activity workbooks have been prepared for the children according to their age group at Bal Shiksha Kendras. Child Development Cards are being made for monitoring of the development of children. Information of the compilation of annual activities of the anganwadi workers and the weekly calendar has been made available at the Bal Shiksha Kendra. In this, child development cards have been made to review the development of children according to their age group. Certificates and PSE kits are being made available to the children leaving the anganwadi every year.
State-level master trainers have been trained by the State Resource Group trained from NIPCCD who are providing “hands on” training to supervisors. Anganwadi workers and Sahayikas are also being given training by the supervisors.
Daily activities have been fixed for the physical and mental development of children through games in the Anganwadi Shiksha Kendras. This includes functional and creative games, drama or mimicry games, group and rules games. Apart from this, children who want to play some games by themselves are also encouraged. Children are engaged in different activities based on games at these centres.
Three to four hours per day is scheduled for pre-school education at these centres. Children are given 15-20 minutes per activity because children in the age group of 3-6 years cannot concentrate on one activity for more time than this. The anganwadi kendras are colourfully decorated to attract children. Charts, posters and cutouts etc. have been placed on the walls in the room. Decoratove items made by the children have also been displayed on the walls of the room. For large group activities, a stage has been arranged in one corner of the room, where children read books, sing songs, recite poems and stories. The environment inside the room of the Bal Shiksha Kendras is designed according to the interest and developmental needs of young children. Separate corners such as the Gudiya Ghar corner, music corner, science and environment use corner, building block play corner, craft corner and stories corner have been built for the children to play.