Wednesday, 29 July 2020

Highlights for ECE in the new National Education Policy and ECA questions on the same



It’s a proud moment for our country that after 34 years, our new National Education Policy is released today. We may dissect it all we want, but lets start by congratulating the government and the committee that worked hard on ensuring that vision of millions of Indian educators and policy makers is developed for the larger enhancement of education of our country. Also an important move is to rename Ministry of HRD to Ministry of Education (MoE) The new policy is an integrated yet flexible approach to education but the ‘devil’ will of course be in the details!


“The National Education Policy 2019 envisions an India centred education system that contributes directly to transforming our nation sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high quality education to all.”

1.      Most importantly, the Commitment of ECCE to children from age 3 onwards has been honoured in the new education policy.
2.      ECE for all by 2030, this is worth applauding and achievable only with cooperation of all state governments.
3.      A national curriculum framework for ECCE is laudable, but the devil here will be how much say each state will have in this as it is imperative that a common guideline and goal should be drafted and state governments should not have the power to deviate from these essentials. As it is not fair for young children in different states to get a differing head start in life.
4.      A preparatory class called ‘Balvatika’ in Anganwadis for 4 to 5 year old children? Preparatory for what? Will they not follow the foundational age group of 3 to 8 years?
5.      A welcome initiative is the National foundation of Literacy and Numeracy Mission- hope that literacy would include first and second languages. And an earnest hope that numeracy designed by the foundation should be found in the curriculum and text books used by schools
6.      The Policy takes cognizance of the differences in the development of cognitive abilities in children. The flexibility in the first five years will enable equalising of the multiple cognitive abilities of children.
7.      4 year integrated B.Ed. degree by 2030, what about ECE? Still no guidelines or a common course for ECE teachers!
8.      A common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by the National Council for Teacher Education by 2022, in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs, teachers and expert organizations from across levels and regions.  Will this include ECE teacher courses?
9.      6% GDP on education is a welcome move, how much on ECE? This needs to be identified too.
10.   Parakh the National assessment centre, we sincerely hope that they also define assessment for early years so that developmental delays and learning lags can be identified and rectified early on.
11.   It takes a village to raise a child, and the village identified in this policy for ECE is jointly the Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs. How this village works together will decide the success of ECE in this country. 
12.   NCERT will develop a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8. A welcome move, ECA is hopeful that states will ensure the implementation of the same and thus remove the traditional, formal, stressful curriculums being followed by many preschools. The policy advocates that children of ages 3-8 have access to a flexible, multifaceted, multilevel, play-based, activity-based, and discovery-based education. How this will be implemented and assured is going to be work in progress.
13.   ECCE will be delivered through a significantly expanded and strengthened system of institutions including Anganwadis and pre- schools that will have teachers and Anganwadi workers trained in the ECCE pedagogy and curriculum – the question is what will this training comprise of? This needs to be identified at the earliest else different states will have different standards and quality of ECE teachers.
14.    Mother tongue is a good move but difficult to implement. In cities where multiple language children are in the same class, which language will the teacher teach in?
15.   State School Standards Authority (SSSA). Transparent public self-disclosure of all the basic regulatory information, as laid down by the SSSA, will be used extensively for public oversight and accountability. The SCERT will
Develop a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF), will this include ECE?
16.    A single pedagogical unit called the “Foundational Stage”. It is necessary, therefore, to develop and establish such an integrated foundational curricular and pedagogical framework, and corresponding teacher preparation, for this critical Foundational Stage of a child’s development. – How schools will work this out and train already existing teachers in this will be the struggle. Also this needs to be part of ECCE teacher training programs, and other teacher training programs.
17.   Also does it mean that exiting private standalone preschools can now extend to grade 2?
18.   A very heartening includion is that All school children to undergo regular health check-ups and health cards will be issued- we hope this will include ECE children too.
19.   A good initiative for health of young children is the inclusion of an energizing breakfast in addition to midday meals.
Overall the new education policy is a great vision to change the educational landscape in this country and it vitalizes education by ensuring that ECE becomes the starting point of education for all children.

ECA and APER will be hosting a webinar in the coming week to analyse and throw light on many aspects in the policy that will impact preschools and teachers. Details of the same will be put on our whatsapp groups and facebook pages.

Regards,
National Committee of
Early Childhood Association
Association for Primary Education and Research

Friday, 12 June 2020

A blanket ban on online learning will not be beneficial...we need balanced guidelines


We say, “children are the future” – and that’s true – but there’s a fundamental problem with that idea. It suggests that... they’re just kids now, but later, when they become the future, we can start taking care of them... with colleges and universities, a better economy, a better job climate. But that’s wrong. It is right now that their brains are developing.  Schools will be closed for the next 6 months at least, so can we afford to let children miss out on crucial brain stimulation?
Children go through a period of rapid learning in the first ten years. The most embedded parts of their personality – their attitudes and moral values, their emotional tendencies, their learning abilities, how they deal with people, how they deal with situations, good or bad – they are all a product of experiences that they have between the ages of 0 and 10. That’s when they learn how to adapt and respond to the world.

Early Childhood and Primary Education– makes a difference that persists well into adulthood. It shapes who you become. At that age, the brain is making new connections that will one day become the blueprint for life. And at that age, if children don’t receive the right kind of care or learning, they will grow up with...  a few crayons missing from their life’s pencil box. And why should that happen to anybody?

It is important that children in this age group have access to a flexible, multifaceted, multilevel, play-based, activity-based, and discovery-based education. During these years it entails learning about alphabets, languages, numbers, counting, colours, shapes, drawing/painting, indoor and outdoor play, puzzles and logical thinking, visual art, craft, drama, puppetry, music, and movement.

The problem is not that we don’t want to care for our children. People just need to know how. Parents, teachers, the government – all the stakeholders in the future of our children – we go about it on a trial-by-fire basis, and sometimes knee jerk reactions to situations. But we need a more structured, a more uniform way to do this. ...Lets not ‘throw away the baby with the bath water’, just because a few schools have made mistakes in conducting online classes and misused the opportunity does not mean we should let a whole generation of children spend the next four or more months without any learning or contact with their teachers.

Early Childhood Association and the Association of Primary Education and Research urge the government not to put a blanket ban on online education of early and primary years. Lets have a guided approach based on need, value and impact. Lets understand that schools will not open for another 3 months, which means children will lose out on connection and engagement with teachers. Parents will use online apps to ensure that children learn and these apps will not be able to give the ‘serve and return’ interactions that teachers can give through live engagement platforms. Children will become consumers of technology and screens instead of learning to use screens and technology for communication and sharing based interactions.

If we look at what other countries have experienced after reopening schools, they have had to shut down because of spike in cases. It means that we will need a format of,’click-brick-click’ for our children’s education, this means start the year with basic online (click), then reopen schools (brick) and when we have to shut them again revert to online (click).

As educationists we would like to recommend that the government issues guidelines to control and navigate the dangers if any of screen time and online education thus maintaining a balance by extending and nurturing opportunities of blended learning formats, today children of all ages require a virtual touch with their teachers, classmates, to share, communicate, engage and bond. Let us teach them about technology literacy and safety.

Attached are guidelines developed by Early Childhood Association and Association for Primary Education and Research on how to implement developmentally appropriate and safe online sessions for early and primary years. We urge the government to move from a blanket ban to aiding the schools in following guidelines that are safe and implementable for all children.

Children may be 20% of our population right now, but they are 100% our future, so let us not let our future stagnate in the coming months, let us invest and safeguard their learning by adopting practices and guidelines that will benefit their growth, development and learning for life.

Sincerely,

Dr. S.P.Vats
On behalf of national committee ECA and APER
www.eca-india.org 

NOTE FROM:
DR. SAMIR HASAN  DALWAI 
Developmental Behavioural Pediatrician,
New Horizons Child Development Centre
Founder Vice President Early Childhood Association
Joint National Secretary, India Academy of Pediatrics.

“Unprecedented times need innovative solutions based on robust developmental evidence. Children need positive age appropriate stimulation for optimal brain development at all times. They also need to be safeguarded against neglect and negativity. Pre-school teachers are an invaluable resource to keep children on their developmental track. We need to harness this energy to deliver gentle, play based messages to our little ones across the country.”


NOTE FROM:
DR. SAGAR MUNDADA
Consultant Psychiatrist

“Interaction via video chat if utilized properly can be helpful…the chat should focus more on activities rather, simple life skills which teachers can guide the tiny tots to learn. Nothing matches the face-to-face interaction but in this scenario, student- student chats (seeing other children) via video calling can the closest thing to socialization. The children also get to mingle with other key humans apart from their parents which can get a little tiring sometimes. The only precaution should be that it is limited to maximum of 1 hour only. In fact children are subtly taught to effectively manage the impulse for increased screen time in long term via these video chats wherein they are taught that after certain time, no screen time means no screen time, hence improved self regulation can be taught.”

Tuesday, 17 March 2020

Incorporating the work of India’s pioneer early childhood educators into contemporary preschools.




Dear Educator,
Here is my full keynote given at the ECE conference of Education World In Mumbai - 2020
Incorporating the work of India’s pioneer early childhood educators into contemporary preschools.
Its time to be ‘Glocal’, especially in early childhood education. Its time to know what the latest global research advices about early care and education but it is equally important to understand that at the sensitive age of zero to six years it is the child’s mother tongue and culture that will have a lasting impact on learning (cognitive, socio-emotional) for life.
So while we are aware of Froebel, Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner as the leaders in early years education, what we should also be aware about is the history or evolution of early years care and education in our own country.
There were pioneers who took the best of research from around the world and adapted it for Indian culture and children. As early childhood educators it is time we know about their work, incorporate it, benefit from it and celebrate it.
The four pioneer early childhood educators who I feel we should read about and learn from for our contemporary preschool work are: Gijubhai Badeka, Rabindranath Tagore, Tarabai Modak- Anutai Wagh and Mahatma Gandhi. Of course there are many others too but lets begin with understanding their work.
Around the 1920’s the first foundations of early childhood education were being created in our country. Rabindranath Tagore backed the Montessori philosphy and started the Tagore Montessori schools across the country. Meanwhile Gijubhai a lawyer did not want his child to go through the same traditional education in school that he had suffered through. He read up on everything to do with early childhood education and parenting and was greatly impressed with the work of Maria Montessori. He was fondly called ‘Moochali Maa’ (mother with a moustache!) by the children.
Montessori influenced and inspired Gijubhai, but he adopted only those ideas that were possible to be implemented in India. One of the first things we can learn from Gijubhai perhaps is that it is good to be influenced by global practices but Adapt, don’t adopt global practices blindly. In 1920 Gijubhai Badheka set up the first Bal Mandir or early childhood education center.
In most schools the teacher waits for the children to greet them and say, ‘Good morning’, etc. but Gijubhai would greet every child at the door with their name, both at the beginning and end of the school day. It is after all relationships between students and teacher that brings true passion and interest in learning. Be the first to greet children in school, its not always about them saying, “good morning teacher”.
Gijubhai believed that any concert that the children put up to showcase their talents to parents, should be work done completely by the children in school. The kids put up their own annual day show, related to what they have learnt. An annual show should showcase what the children have enjoyed and learned throughout the year, they should be the directors, actors, designers of props etc. Sadly today annual days in schools have become song and dance extravaganza, choreographed by professionals! Maybe its time we rethink about making our end of the year annual concerts more about children.
Gijubhai was against corporal punishment and even created a ‘vanar sena’ a group of children that would look out for children who were beaten at home or by teachers and then report to Gijubhai who would intervene and educate the adults about the negative impacts of corporal punishment. Child Abuse starts at home and we should safeguard children from this because ‘touch should never become trouble’ for a child. The Early Childhood Association recently conducted a survey and found that parents still spank children, its time for a community conscience, its time to say #I will not, to spanking and corporal punishment
In schools.
Most educators and schools have lost track of educational goals in their quest to fill their school with children and their cupboards with student achievement trophies! Its time to revisit this poem written by Gijubhai Badheka and make it our vision and mission statement.
This Will Not Do…In Our School
(Excerpts from Prathmikshalama Shikshak,first  published in 1932, written by Gijubhai Badeka)
1.     It will do if the walls in our school are not covered with paint. It will not do if there is dust and cobwebs in corners.
2.     It will do if the floors are not  covered by carpets.It will not do if there is litter and dirt strewn on them.
3.     It will do if there is not a laboratory full of fancy equipment .It will not do if the little equipment  that is available is not ever used.
4.     It will do if there is not a great big library.It will not do if there are not at least a few books that children would enjoy reading.
5.     It will do if we are not great scholars.It will not do if we cannot give our children due respect, and an environment that encourages their development.
6.     It will do if we are not constantly engaged in ‘teaching’ children. It will not do if we interfere in their activities or threaten or force them to sit down to study.
Tarabai Modak was a social worker from Maharashtra; she also served as a Principal of a Women’s college in Rajkot. Inspired by Gijubhai’s experiments she joined him in his work in his balwadi. Together they started a training college for pre primary teachers in 1925, which proved to be first training college for pre primary teachers in India. And sadly till today India does not have a common Early Childhood Teacher Training Course, like it has the B.Ed. course. The new National Education Policy has included early years but has not defined a common early years teacher training program, whereas we had one as early as 1925!
On hearing a criticism that preschool education was meant only for the rich children, Tarabai took this up as a challenge and conducted a Balwadi in a Harijanwada at Amravati in Maharashtra. In 1936, she started Shishu Vihar Kendra at Bombay, which was a centre of Pre School Educational training. In 1945, she moved to Bordi & founded Gram Bal Shiksha Kendra. Later she moved in 1957 to Kosabad, tribal area.  Tarabai Modak and Sarla Devi Sarabhai (PSE worker) were called one of the two “ Montessori Mothers” as they have Indianized the Montessori education and popularized it.

Tarabai pioneered the concept of balwadi - a centre for preschool children. She started two types of balwadis at Bordi - Central Balwadis and Angan Balwadis. The central balwadis were run for five hours, had all essential educational materials and children were brought from their homes to the balwadis. The angan balwadis on the other hands were conducted in front of the parents in their courtyards; teachers would carry simple material and conduct songs and games on hygiene, cleanliness, oral language etc. Anutai Wagh was a professional colleague of Tarabai Modak and she along with Modak pioneered a programme whose curriculum was indigenous, used low cost teaching aids and was aimed at holistic development.

The concept of anganwadi in the ICDS scheme has been drawn from her work. And the inspiration that we can take from her work is that all children deserve a good education start to their lives. Its time for a public- private partnership to achieve this.

Rabindranath Tagore backed the Montessori pedagogy and established 'Tagore Montessorischools across the country in the 1940s.  Tagore wrote extensively on education and his story, ‘Tota Kahini’ (Parrot’s Training) is a satire on the education system and is sadly still relevant today. In 1929 the first International Montessori Congress was organised in Denmark. Tagore travelled to Denmark to attend this Congress and did you know that Jean Piaget was also part of this Congress! In 1940 when Montessori came to India, Tagore welcomed her with a letter. Tagore believed that education should begin with the training of instincts, emotions, self-reliance and co-operation. Then art, music and play should be introduced.
Today we take so many inspirations from global curriculum methods, but he advocated the following methods of teaching almost a century ago, which I think are so relevant even today for curriculum developers and educational boards designing their curriculum, both nationally and internationally.
      Peripatetic method: He was concerned with the association between body and mind in order to establish a total rhythm and harmony in life. The children should be taught drama and arts as compulsory subjects from the beginning. This is because the children need the opportunity to give expression to their feelings through their bodily movements.
      Activity method: He gave emphasis for activity method. He wanted children to understand the concepts through performing activities. For example to understand a verb “tear”, he used to make the children to tear some papers to master the concept of tearing.
      Environmental approach: He emphasized teaching through environment. He included more number of nature walks to teach the concepts for younger children. He believed in providing first hand experiences to children in their learning process through nature. The modern approach of learning by organizing “nature trails, in the subject of environmental studies are similar to the ideas of Tagore.
Its time to learn from Tagore and recognise that children are not unfinished adults and that the difference between children and adults requires different methods of learning.

In 1937 the scheme for new education or Nai Talim was introduced, but it was in 1944 that Mahatma Gandhi realized the importance of early childhood education.  "The real education begins from conception, as the mother begins to take up the responsibility of the child. It is very clear that if this new education is to be effective, its foundation must go deeper, it must begin not with the children but the parents and the community."
He gave the term 'Pre-Basic Education' for the education of children under seven years of age. Pre-basic education, he said, must aim at "the development of all their faculties, conducted by the school teachers in cooperation with the parents and the community in schools, in the home and in the village." "We labour under a sort of superstition that the child has nothing to learn during the first five years of its life. On the contrary, the fact is the child never learns in after life what it does in its first five years.”  

The Pre-basic school is geared to the needs of the following four groups of children:
       Stage 1: Conception to birth
       Stage 2: Birth to 2 and a half years
       Stage 3: 2 and a half years to 4 years
       Stage 4: 4 years to 7 years
       The first two stages involve both the mother and the child. 
       Children from 2 and a half to 4 years of age are provided stimulating play activities. They are free to act, to move about and to choose their own activities. 
        After four years of age, the child participates in activities like cleaning the classroom, measuring and weighing things, and other similar activities. ' 
It is so heartening that the above is incorporated in the new NCERT preschool curriculum and the National Education Policy.

As we struggle to force handwriting skills on preschoolers, we must remember what Mahatma Gandhi had to say about the teaching of handwriting to young children, maybe this would cure us from our obsession to ensure that children write before they can read or understand!
“ I consider writing as a fine art. We kill it by imposing the alphabet on little children and making it the beginning of learning. Good handwriting is a necessary part of education, but I am now of the opinion that children should first be taught the art of drawing before learning how to write. Let the child learn letters by observation, as he/she does different objects such as flowers, birds etc. and let him learn handwriting only after he has learnt to ‘draw’ objects. First teach the child to draw straight lines, curves, triangles, birds, flowers, leaves, as that would help the child to draw and not to scrawl alphabets! Children should be taught to read before they learn to write.”
I hope curriculum designers are reading this, it is also mentioned in our new NCERT preschool curriculum, so download a copy and match your preschool curriculum to it to ensure that what these ECE pioneers worked so hard to prove is being practiced in our schools so that our children grow up learning what is developmentally appropriate.

All the ideas like experiential learning, hands on learning, play way, that we are bringing in our schools and thinking that they are new, were already practiced by our ECE pioneers even before independence. Its time to revisit, relearn about them and stop reinventing the wheel! Or at least stop giving credit for the wheel to others! Its time to celebrate our Indian ECE pioneers. Here are some books written by them that you can read for more inspiration and learning:
·         Gijubhai Badheka-  Divasvapna: An Educator's Reverie
       Rabindranath Tagore- A Parrot’s Training
       Anutai Wagh- Kosbadcha tekadivarun
       Mahatma Gandhi- Basic education
Early Childhood Association and Association for Primary Education and Research in partnership with Education World are proud to announce an Educators Pilgrimage to visit the inspirational places and works of these 4 ECE pioneers: Gijubhai Badheka, Tarabai Modak, Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. Join us on this immersive education pilgrimage. More details are given in this issue.

This article is written by Dr. Swati Popat Vats, a passionate crusader for the upliftment of early childhood education in our country, for ALL children. She is the President of the Early Childhood Association and Association for Primary Education and Research and is also the President of Podar Education Network where she heads 500 early childhood centres and 110 Early Childhood Teacher Training Programs.  She can be contacted on ecapresidentindia@gmail.com and urges all educators to visit www.eca-india.org and become a member and join this crusade to make early childhood education for all children in India a reality.



Friday, 26 July 2019

India’s Independence Day is on the 15th of August and not the 14th of August!





India’s Independence Day is on the 15th of August and not the 14th of August!

Dear Educators and Parents,

We teach children about our independence history, (I hope all schools still teach this!) we teach them about the sacrifices made by Indians to help us achieve the freedom that we now enjoy, and to show our solidarity to each other as citizens of this country. I am sure we teach children about our Independence  so that they grow up valuing their past, savour and enjoy their present, and can make the right decisions about their future.

But then we send very mixed messages when we celebrate Independence Day on the 14th of August, just for our convenience! Did our freedom fighters see their convenience? Would we be enjoying the democratic life we now do, if they had thought about their convenience? Many schools celebrate India’s Independence Day on the 14th of August, forgetting that India got its freedom at midnight on the 14th, so it was 15th of August. Pakistan celebrates its independence day on the 14th, not India. So sorry to say but shame on those who look at their convenience and celebrate India’s Independence Day on the 14th, just so that they can enjoy a holiday!

What kind of a message are we sending to our children, when we see our convenience instead of our duty? What kind of a message are we sending to our children when we don’t give importance to the most important day of our country? And then we say that the young generation has no values, has no sense of belonging. But didn’t they learn this from us? Who was their role model?

This time Independence Day and Rakshabandhan fall on the same day. Rakshabandhan is the celebration of the bond between a brother and sister; blessings and promises are exchanged on that day between a brother and sister. Many schools are forgoing Independence Day celebrations this year so that they and their staff can celebrate Rakshabandhan. Why should it be an ‘or’, why can’t we celebrate both? It takes 10 minutes to hoist the flag, sing the national anthem and pay your tribute to country. Come on, educators, if education is why you have set up your school or are a teacher, then Independence Day and Republic day are your teaching moments. To teach children that we have a duty towards our nation, to teach children that if we want to enjoy the freedom that we have then it is our responsibility to acknowledge the country that has given us that freedom. Bond with your country and then every personal bond will be cherished.  

There are thousands of soldiers at our borders who don’t get to celebrate Rakshabandhan or other festivals with their family. They forgo all that to keep us safe while we get the freedom to cherish and relish our relationships and celebrations. What if all our soldiers saw their convenience?

As a proud Indian citizen and an educator I appeal to all of you, stand up for your country proudly every Independence day…15th of August…and look with pride at the tricolour and sing the national anthem with gusto. Then go home and tie a Rakhi or get a Rakhi tied! In years to come maybe Eid or Ganapati or Onam or Pateti etc. will be on the 15th of August, don’t choose, celebrate both…the sense of pride and freedom of your country and your personal, religious celebration. Jai Hind.

Dr. Swati Popat Vats

Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Sab Bachho ka bhala…desh ka vikas!



Sab Bachho ka bhala…desh  ka vikas!



It takes a village to raise a child is a well known quote but I feel in India it should be- The village should raise every child! Because in India our private preschools cater to and do a fairly good job for the children enrolled , but that is just 20% of our child population. The other 80% do not have access to any early childhood education program or have access to but is not of the quality that it should be. Our country proudly runs the largest Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) or called Anganwadis. But these were established and remain primarily health and  nutrition centers.

What ails our ICDS program?

       Run presently as a health and welfare unit- education is missing.

       Anganwadi sevikas are not qualified in ECE but given training as and when.

       Too many other duties given to the sevikas and ECD  and ECE take a back seat.

       Inspite of a curriculum draft, our ICDS are ill-equipped to follow it due to lack of resources and training

ASAR report and Early Years Education-

Every year the ASAR reports laments the fact that our fifth or eight standard children cannot even read a second standard reading activity etc. This will continue to happen unless we focus on early years education because attendance at a quality preschool from age three predicted better outcomes in English, science, and math when compared with children that had not attended preschool.  Analysis of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) also shows that in most countries, students who had attended at least one year of early learning perform better than those who had not, accounting for students’ socioeconomic background (OECD, 2015, p. 326).

What is the importance and impact of early years education?

It helps children develop the Potential to think rationally, Persist with challenge , Use language, Suppress impulse, Regulate emotion , Respond  to others’ distress, Cooperate with peers, develop Cognitive and  social skills , develop Healthy habits. And hence, the vast differences in the early experiences of a child in the ICDS program and a private program make it unlikely that the two children will ever perform equivalently in school and later employment arena. Its time to invest in early childhood education, especially in our ICDS program to ensure that we take care of the other brain drain!

An oft asked question- is there any research to prove that investing in quality early childhood education programs help a country? The answer is, yes, read the Heckman report.

James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, a Nobel laureate in economics and an expert in the economics of human development. He uncovered a new way of looking at the full picture of the development of human potential. According to him there is too much focus on the development of cognitive skills where knowledge can be tested, rather than on the development of social skills—such as attentiveness, persistence and working with others. When social skills are combined at an early age with cognitive skills, they help create more capable and productive citizens.
Every child needs effective early childhood development to be successful, but disadvantaged children are least likely to get it. Professor Heckman has proven that investing in the early childhood development of disadvantaged children will produce great returns to individuals and society in better education, health, economic and social outcomes—not only saving taxpayers money but increasing our nation’s economic productivity. Everyone gains when we invest, develop and sustain the early development of America’s greatest natural resource—its people.

He highlighted the following benefits of ECE

       Reduced costs in remedial education, healthcare, and criminal justice participation down the line.

   Preschool helps develop the early building blocks of educational success – learning colours and numbers, understanding patterns, realizing that printed words hold meaning.

       It socializes children.

       Any language, hearing or developmental problems a child may have are picked up early.

America tried it and here is the proof- The Hechinger Report-

The Hechinger Report provided an update about data collected from the Perry Preschool Project, explaining first the history of the project: “Nearly 60 years ago, a handful of 3-and-4-year-old black children living in a small city outside of Detroit attended a preschool program known as the Perry Preschool Project. The children were part of an experiment to see if a high-quality educational experience in a child’s early years could raise IQ scores.”

“Led for the last decade by Nobel Laureate James Heckman, an economist at the University of Chicago, the Perry researchers have also looked at school success in terms of persistence to graduation, work success in terms of job retention and life success in terms of physical health and healthy relationships. Perry Preschool children did better on all of these measures than a randomly selected group of their peers who did not attend the preschool.”

 “The latest results from this long-running study, released on May 14, 2019, indicate that children of the now 50-to-55-year old Perry participants reaped the same benefits…67 percent of the adult children of Perry participants completed high school without a suspension, compared to just 40 percent of the children of non-participants.”

Other countries have also starting investing in early years education-

Countries like USA, UK, Australia, and many others have universalized Early Childhood Education. Most of these countries have made it free at least for 15 hours a week or at least one year of ECE Programs. They did this, as they wanted every child to benefit from early childhood care and education so that ‘where you are born’ does not decide ‘where you start from’. It means equal opportunities to every child.

Where you start from does not determine how far you can go-

Gaps in knowledge and ability between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers open up long before kindergarten, tend to persist throughout life, and are difficult and costly to close. Taking a proactive approach to cognitive and social skill development through investments in quality early childhood programs is more effective and economically efficient than trying to close the gap later on.

The rate of return for investments in quality early childhood development for disadvantaged children is 7-10% per annum through better outcomes in education, health, sociability, economic productivity and reduced crime. There’s a growing recognition of the value of investing in quality early childhood programs. It’s time to act on the evidence. The sooner we do, the more likely we will be to put our country on the road to greater prosperity that is shared by all.

If for every rupee invested we get back 7 rupees then how is it not economically viable? The problem is, in India, Childcare and Early Childhood Education (ECE) is traditionally viewed from welfare or education perspective, its time we viewed it from an economic perspective. A perspective that countries like USA, UK, Australia and many others have benefitted from.

At last years Education World ECE conference in Bengaluru, ECA has recommended Public private partnerships for upliftment of the Anganwadi program-

       Teacher training in ICDS and Balwadis, is completely ignored right now, needs to be outsourced.

       Curriculum management to be given to a private partner.

    Give some incentives in tax and rent to private partners who then ensure the smooth running of a number of centers regulated by a private body like ECA.

       Present model of giving balwadis and anganwadis to NGO to run also needs regulatory body like ECA.

       Common curriculum model and teacher training instead of the present fragmented level of operations.

The world is taking ECE seriously, its time India invested in its youngest citizens, who are not the vote bank but are definitely future nation builders. Let us invest in our children…all our children because how each one of them is brought up will impact all of them and us!

“I believe that each of us must come to care about everyone else’s children. We must come to see that the well being of our own individual children is intimately linked to the well being of all other people’s children. After all when one of our children needs life saving surgery, someone else’s child will perform it, when one of our children is threatened or harmed by violence in the streets, someone else’s child will inflict it. The good life for our own children can be secured if it is also secured for all other people’s children”
- Lillian Katz


I sign off by saying, to our dearest Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji that its time to adopt the slogan Sab Bachho ka bhala…desh  ka vikas!