New Arunima, a preschool learning and training kit developed by the Women and Child Development Department containing a handbook for the Anganwadi Worker (AWW), two age appropriate work books for young children, 12 theme-based training CDs for AWW-one for each month and an audio CD with 37 action songs was launched by District Collector Dr Sashi Bhsan Padhi here. He attended as Chief Guest at the function where Zilla Parishad Chairperson Sujata Mutika joined as Guest of Honour.
Mutika said that Early Childhood Education (ECE) was not in proper shape in many AWCs. She hoped that by introducing the kit New Arunima, the Early Childhood Education (ECE) component in the AWCs could be strengthened.
It might be noted that out of six services to be provided in AWCs, ECE figures as the last service.
Collector Dr Padhi also agreed that AWCs are synonymous with nutrition programme and Chhatua distribution. AWWs have to be intensively trained to adhere to methodologies prescribed for ECE. Syllabus and plan of action have to be seriously followed, he said.
According to DSWO Kanungo, work book (Part-I) has to be used for tiny tots of 3-4 years age and the Part-II for 4-6 years age.
Toy banks, though have less relevance in tribal areas, will be established in each centre. Second date of every month will be observed as “Grand Pa” day to symbolize grandfather’s storytelling and attachment to the young children.
To elicit community participation, there will be meeting in the village to discuss about New Arunima and other issues of the AWCs.
She shared that there was a provision of 120 days of ECE activities in the AWCs. Training of CDPOs in this regard has been completed. The New Arunima kit will reach the end users in AWCs by July, she said, and requested the BDOs to monitor the process in spite of their busy schedule.
While the DSWO, in her speech, mentioned that Early Childhood Education (ECE) component in ICDS is only for 120 days, the New Arunima mentions it to be two hours every day.
A survey conducted by a southern Odisha based NGO reveals that previous version of Arunima did not even reach many AWCs.
And even if they reached, the quantity was very less. So the cosmetic speech of DSWO claiming that the kits will reach the AWCs in July seems to be a day dream, opined many social activists here.
“As the kit contains thirteen CDs and most of the AWCs neither have CD/VCD players nor have electricity, the kits become virtually dumped in the departmental godown,” said Dibakar Sabar, a tribal activist from Gudari.
Through a Chief Secretarial order during July 2012, OPEPA has been entrusted with the responsibility of developing New Arunima in ten tribal languages to promote mother tongue based pre-school education in 25,000 AWCs in tribal areas.
Mother tongue based multi lingual education in early age, according to world famous renowned researchers and psychologists, develops preschoolers’ physical, mental, language and cognitive development, besides boosting up their creativity, aesthetics and personality, which ultimately strengthens the primary education.
As the medium of interaction is not mother tongue, the AWCs in tribal areas are not attracting young children towards it. If OPEPA of the WCD Department adopts the New Arunima in ten tribal languages, then the present New Arunima which is in Odia language will be totally unusable.
“An AWC maintains almost more than thirty registers and remains overburdened with responsibilities like immunization, observation of Village Health and Nutrition Day, procurement of nutrition materials from the block headquarters, bank work, BPl survey, etc. She can hardly be present in her AWC for a week or so.
Unless an additional AWW, who should be from the local tribal community, is appointed in the AWC in a tribal district like Rayagada, this exercise will certainly go futile,” said Krushna Sabara, yet another tribal activist from Ramanaguda.