EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

Early childhood, defined as the period from birth to eight years old, is a time of remarkable growth with brain development at its peak. During this stage, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them.

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is more than preparation for primary school. It aims at the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs in order to build a solid and broad foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. ECCE has the possibility to nurture caring, capable and responsible future citizens.

In this way ECCE is one of the best investments a country can make to promote human resource development, gender equality and social cohesion, and to reduce the costs for later remedial programmes. For disadvantaged children, ECCE plays an important role in compensating for the disadvantages in the family and combating educational inequalities.

UNESCO’s approach is reinforced in the Education 2030 agenda and in particular in target 4.2 of Sustainable development goal 4 which aims to ‘By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.’

 

NEED EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

1. This is the time when children are highly influenced by society, people and environment around them.
2. mental growth of children during this period is high (scientifically proved)
3. these initial years are plinth of the building, most crucial for learning and holistic development of personality

 

BENEFITS

1. ECCE will bring in a responsible future citizen a direct asset to nation.
2. This will promote gender equality, socio-economic development, social cohesion and will reduce the cost of later remedial investments.
3. Early care and investments will give better education outcomes in secondary and higher education sector
4. This will reduce drop-out and increase the quality of education in India
5. Education system in India is highly vulnerable, because of which week mental and physical growth has been observed, ECCE will help developing emotional balance among children and future citizens.

DRAFT NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY

1. designed and formulated by K KASTURIRANGAN  COMMITTEE 
2. THE policy further expands RIGHT TO EDUCATION act and talk about three year of compulsory preschool training before class 1.
3. Policy aims to provide high quality early childhood care and education for all children between age group of three to six by 2025.
4. Polity provides for new integrated curriculum for 3 to 8 year old, with a flexible system based on play, activities and discoveries and also learning and exposure to at least three languages from age of 3.

 

MAJOR CHALLENGES

1. As per new national education policy lack of trained teachers is biggest challenge in promoting early childhood care and education.
2. lack of funds and infrastructure for Anganwadi, as a result of which increased drop out rates
3. Lack of trained anganwadi workers for early childhood care.
4. Significant no of students lack competencies in INDIA as per studies conducted by various institutions such as Pratham and Ambedkar University.
5. Lack of teaching skills and old methodology, most of the public private schools still promote memorization of tasks.

WAY FORWARD

1. Need for school exam reform :
   • Force students to concentrate only on a few subjects,
   • do not test learning in a formative manner, and
   • cause stress among students,
   • Restructuring the board examinations to test only core concepts, skills and higher order capacities.
2. Improve School infrastructure:School Complex -The school complexes will also include anganwadis, vocational education facilities, and an adult education center, infrastructure and trained teachers can be efficiently shared across a school complex
3. Teacher management: Teachers should be deployed with a particular school complex for at least five to seven years.Teachers should not be allowed to participate in any non-teaching activities (such as cooking mid-day meals or participating in vaccination campaigns) during school hours that could affect their teaching capacities.
4. Regulation of schools:Creating an independent State School Regulatory Authority for each state that will prescribe basic uniform standards for public and private schools. The Department of Education of the State will formulate policy and conduct monitoring and supervision.