Page 27 - EducationWorld December 2022
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under the Central government’s In-  better prepared for primary educa-  ing system. “Optimal development
             tegrated Child Development Services   tion,” she says.            of children necessitates youngest
             (ICDS) programme — with govern-     However, early childhood educa-  children learning joyfully at their
             ment and matriculation schools. This   tors warn that the big danger of   own pace. One of the reasons for
             means that professionally adminis-  merging anganwadis with govern-  children’s poor learning outcomes
             tered ECCE could begin much earlier   ment schools is that youngest chil-  in primary education is overburden-
             than three years as recommended by   dren can be prematurely pushed into   ing of infants. For a child’s cogni-
             NEP 2020.                        formal reading, writing and numer-  tive development, play and learning
                  D. Girija Devi, principal of   acy. “If anganwadis are merged with   through exploration and discovery is
             Anna Gem Science Park Matricula-  government schools, they could lose   important. Therefore, the commit-
             tion Higher Secondary School, Chen-  their ECCE personalities and prema-  tee is likely to stress that youngest
             nai, which has 1,400 students and 70   ture teaching of the 3R’s (reading,   children should not be pressured into
             teachers on its muster rolls, wel-  writing and ’rithmetic) could inflict   formal, especially rote learning,” says
             comes the proposal to merge under-  stress and make youngest children   Aruna Rathnam, a former educa-
             managed and under-resourced an-  learning averse as they grow older.   tion and child protection specialist
             ganwadis with government schools   Therefore, great care should be   with Unicef, Chennai and member of
             because of the increase in nuclear   taken that anganwadis — and private   the Murugesan Committee.
             families with both parents working.   preschools — shouldn’t transform    With the first SEP draft of the
             “Enrolling youngest children into   into formal schools,” advises Prince   committee scheduled to be pre-
             formal schools is preferable to leav-  Gajendra Babu, general secretary   sented shortly for public scrutiny
             ing them in unlicensed day care cen-  of the State Platform for Common   and debate, educators in the state are
             tres run by amateur housewives. If   School System, Tamil Nadu.   keeping their fingers crossed that the
             youngest children are inducted early    Fortunately, members of the   committee will give precedence to
             into the formal education system   Murugesan Committee are aware   child-centric education rather than
             where they receive professional care   of the dangers of merging pre-  politics.
             and informal education, they will be   primaries with the formal school-   Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai)


                                                                                EW SPOTLIGHT FEATURE
             Happy Minds International




             T    he Day Care Centres and Preschools Are Operating In   of activities to keep every child

                                                              engaged.
                  Full Swing Post Pandemic!
                                                                 The other strong points to
                    COVID is settling with time and so is life returning
             to normalcy. Certain sectors were badly affected during the   notice at HMI include
             pandemic; education was one of these. The pandemic taught   ▪  Live CCTV access in every
             each of us a lesson; to be prepared for the worst! Preschools   class for parents.
             and daycares like Happy Minds International (HMI) survived   ▪  Strong and prompt actions on
             due to a strong back-up plan, digital excellency, and outstanding   parents’ feedback
             training for its staff. The centre trained its teachers and staff to be   ▪  Hygiene and clean premise
             patient and flexible in any given situation. Perhaps, this attitude   ▪  In-house kitchen with trained maids and helpers
             worked in their favour.                          ▪  Practical learning followed by field trips and workshops
               Several other schools and preschool centres switched to   involving parents and siblings
             online training modules too but were unable to overcome the   HMI centres are focused on children’s social and emotional
             pandemic challenges due to infrastructure issues and lack   development. Therefore, HMI children are well-behaved
             of professional attitude. As a result, children lost interest in   regardless of the situation. Its noteworthy that HMI’s inquiry-
             socializing, education, and other physical activities. For Happy   based learning method enabled children to make connections
             Minds International, surviving the pandemic was like a piece   about learning, built their curiosity, and gained a deeper
             of cake given their over decade long experience in preschool   understanding of topics. Needless to say their online classes
             education. Even their online training module included live   functioned smoothly with every child’s doubt and fear being
             interactive sessions with two-way communication and a plethora   addressed during the pandemic.



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