Gujarat govt to implement early education policy at anganwadis

AHMEDABAD: In

Gujarat

more children are attending school than ever before, but why have reading rates been so slow to improve? The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2018) states that nearly 90% of Class II students at private and government schools can’t read their textbooks. Now, the state government believes that a six-year-old policy that has been gathering dust —the National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy, 2013— may hold the key.

Through its women and child development department, the state plans to train caregivers at 50,000 anganwadis to impart language cognition, recognition of letters and numbers, some reading skills and basic mathematical skills to the 6 lakh children at pre-school level.

The major thrust of anganwadi caregivers’ efforts will be to speak to children in a language that will familiarise them in the school instructional language —be it the mother tongue, the national language or English — in a phased manner. How the state government proceeds with the policy is yet to be seen.

“When the child is comfortable and proficient with their mother tongue, it supports developing proficiency in a second language,” says a senior education department officer. He adds, “It is crucial that when the school language is introduced (English, Hindi or the mother tongue), the anganwadi caregivers continue to convey a positive attitude to the children’s first language.”

State education secretary Vinod Rao told TOI, “The policy is being adopted to enable a smooth transition for children from pre-school to primary school. The policy does not restrict itself to reading and recognising numbers, it also wants us to even reach out to parents.”

GCERT director T S Joshi says, “Five years ago we had shared the syllabus with anganwadi operators and had even translated the policy document and syllabus. But this work was stopped midway. It will now be implemented and anganwadi caregivers will be trained. The policy quotes the findings of research works of scholars in

developmental psychology

and child development such as Piaget, Bruner, Vygotsky, Urie Bronfenbrenner and Gardner. They have emphasised, based on their research, that play and activity are the child’s natural modes for learning and learning in multiple social and cultural contexts influences children’s learning and development.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.