Ministry of Education (Photo: ANI)
Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, chaired a meeting at the Ambedkar International Center in the national capital on Thursday to discuss strategies to achieve broader goals for early childhood care and education (ECCE). .
Representatives of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), provinces and autonomous bodies of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) attended the meeting.
As envisioned in the National Curriculum Framework Foundation Stage (NCF-FS), continuity of pre-primary and school education is necessary for a seamless transition and high-quality ECCE.
Mr. Sanjay Kumar, who spoke on the occasion, set the backdrop for the conference and emphasized the importance of all stakeholders in quality ECCE. Kumar reiterated that it is heartening to see the various initiatives taken by the MoWCD and various states/UTs.
The meeting emphasized the need to have three Varvatikas for pre-primary education in all CBSEs, aged 3 to 6 years, and a Kendriya Vidyalaya with class 1. Co-existence of Anganwadis with village primary schools was recommended in a decentralized manner in coordination with WCD to ensure proper early childhood education and smooth transition to Grade 1.
It was also suggested that Jaadui Pitara should be used in government schools with pre-primary classes to provide a balanced learning experience. It was suggested that NCERT could collaborate with state authorities to evaluate existing learning toys and ensure alignment with the goals of NCF-FS.
It was also suggested that MoE and WCD should work together to link Poshan Tracker and UDIS+ data to track the transition from pre-school to class 1. Countries can define parameters for Jaadui Pitara materials and use requests for proposals (RFPs) to ensure transparency and efficiency in procurement.
There was also a discussion on standardizing the branding of programs like NIPUN Bharat, Jaadui Pitara, e Jaadui Pitara and Vidya Pravesh across the state to increase their visibility and recognition.
It was suggested that the adopted and adapted version of Jaadui Pitara should correspond to the prescribed learning outcomes curated for Jaadui Pitara by NCERT. NCERTs must support SCERTs in achieving the specified learning outcomes.
The need for proper training of pre-service teachers and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) was also discussed in detail at the meeting.
