A story of piloting the ECCE curriculum in Jharkhand, India

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Content

S.N Content Page No

1. Background

1.1 ECCE in Jharkhand

1.2 Initiatives undertaken for ECE in Jharkhand

1.2.1 Policy Level decisions and initiatives for ECCE

1.2.2 Collaboration with Education Department

1.2.3 The National forum on Quality Pre School Education in Rural Areas

1.2.4 Material/Content Development

2 Piloting the ECE Curriculum in Jharkhand

Need of the Curriculum

Selection of the Centers

Piloting of Curriculum

A Cognitive Development

B Language Development

C Physical Development

D Social Development

E Creative Development

Experience in Pre-testing and post-testing

Report as per the format filled by the AW Sewika

3 Support System

4 Key Learning/Major Findings

5 Challenges in implementing the curriculum pilot

6 Memorable Experiences

7 Recommendations

Annexure

I. List of AW Center

II. Copies of Letter

III. Format 1 for AW Sewika

IV. Format 2 for AW Sewika

V. Photographs

VI. List of AW Sewikas & Children interacted with

VII. Status of AW Sewika and Sayayika

VIII. Status of Lady Supervisors and CDPOs

IX. Status of AW in Jharkhand

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1. Background

Early childhood is the period from conception to age 8, a period that presents a developmental

continuum, according to the theoretical framework of developmental psychology and learning

theories. The other reason for extending the span of early childhood from 6 to 8 years is to

ensure a gradual and smooth transition from preprimary to primary education, which is a

structured and formal learning system requiring effective interface. The term ‘Care’ has been

added in recognition of the fact that young children need care and nurturing. In addition to their

health and nutritional needs, their psychosocial and emotional needs also have to be met

adequately for their holistic development. The term Education covers learning, a process of

acquiring knowledge, skills, habits, attitudes, etc. It also indicates an important focus, viz., to

prepare the young child to enter the formal educational stream/system.

Thus, the term ECCE refers to a philosophy of providing opportunities/experiences to young

children up to 8 years of age in order to promote their holistic development, as well as arranging

and providing services and support systems to communities and families to meet the needs of

their young children.

1.1 ECCE in Jharkhand

The ICDS program continues to be a crucial intervention at the national and state level due to the

central and state government’s common commitment to treat and prevent malnutrition and to

improve the nutritional and educational status of its children. Jharkhand is one of the eight states

selected for intensive implementation under the ICDS-IV project. In the last few years , ICDS has

moved forward towards universalization in the state of Jharkhand through its 38,432 Anganwadi

centres, extending six services to all the beneficiaries (Pregnant women, lactating mothers, 0-3

and 3-6 years children and adolescent girls), regardless of caste, class or socioeconomic status.

All these services are rendered to the beneficiaries in convergence with the related departments,

i.e. Department of Health and Human Resource Development. The Non-formal Pre-school

Education (PSE) component of the ICDS may well be considered the backbone of the ICDS

programme in Jharkhand, since all its services essentially converge at the anganwadi .This is

also the most joyful play-way daily activity, visibly sustained for three hours a day. It brings and

keeps young children at the anganwadi centre - an activity that motivates parents and

communities. PSE, as envisaged in the ICDS, focuses on total development of the child, in the

age up to six years, mainly from the underprivileged groups. Its programme for the three-to six

years old children in the anganwadi is directed towards providing and ensuring a natural, joyful

and stimulating environment, with emphasis on necessary inputs for optimal growth and

development. The early learning component of the ICDS is a significant input for providing a

sound foundation for cumulative lifelong learning and development. It also contributes to the

universalization of primary education, by providing to the child the necessary preparation for

primary schooling and offering substitute care to younger siblings, thus freeing the older ones –

especially girls – to attend school.

The significance of early childhood care and education and its impact on the cognitive, socio

economical, physical and motor development need to be addressed at the earliest. With

emergence of the Right to Education, focus on Early Childhood care and education has become

all the more important. The issue had been neglected for several years due to lack of owner ship

by any of the departments.

Although programmes are growing and serving greater number of children, the promise of equal

access to quality programmes for the majority of marginalized and vulnerable children remains

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unfulfilled. In reality, only a small percentage of at risk and vulnerable children participate in early

learning programmes.

Although due to universalization, the numbers of AWCs have considerably increased, the posts

of CDPOs and Lady Supervisors have not been increased to meet the increased demand. As a

matter of fact, the vacant posts have also not yet been filled .The coverage of ICDS through the

Anganwadi centres has immensely increased in the last few years .Several new anganwadi

centres and mini AWCs have been established in the state to ensure adherence to the

universalization of ICDS with quality.

Huge number of vacancies appears against the posts of CDPOs and Lady Supervisors, which is

a big challenge for ensuring quality ECCE programme in the state. There is an urgent need of

filling up of the vacant positions of the CDPOs and Lady Supervisors. Presently, the strength of

the Lady Supervisors is 730 out of the sanctioned strength of 1345 which is 54.2% against the

sanctioned strength which is almost half. This jeopardizes the monitoring and other activities of

the ICDS as the Lady Supervisors are a key human resource for ensuring service delivery of

ICDS with quality.

The state has absorbed some positions of the lady supervisors on contract basis. However, still

this is yet to be done and the recruitment of the lady supervisors is in consideration by the

department.

The Anganwadi centers are actually recognized as nutrition centers and the service regarding

preschool education has taken a back seat due to various reasons ,some of which may be

enlisted as follows:-

Services of AWCs focused upon the supplementary Nutrition programme, as the

preschool education lacks in budgetary provisions and hence does not adds upon to the

financial achievements.

Lack of review mechanism to measure the achievements of preschool education.

Poor quality programme with diluted or wrongly focused areas.

Critical community groups still not aware of the significance of the programme.

Gaps in training, hence in-effective implementation, under utilization of materials.

Lack of supportive monitoring.

Minimal community participation.

Lack of regulation or even supervision leading to unhealthy Competition and confusion.

Children attending Pre-school education at the AWCs

The status of preschool education in the state projected in the following graphic diagrams

squeezed out from the monthly progress report (August,2012) of ICDS shows the status of

preschool education in the state.

1000000

1100000

1200000

1300000

1400000

Total children Enrolled Total children attended

Children attending PSE

Series1

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1.2 Initiatives undertaken for Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Jharkhand

1.2.1 Policy Level decisions and initiatives for ECCE

The honourable State Minister initiated processes for a major shift of Anganwadi centers from

mere ‘Nutrition Centers” to ‘Anganwadi Nursery School Kendra”. The thrust was laid on ‘Pre -

School learning”. Crucial changes were made at policy level in daily timing, food type, rest for

children, supply of material, pedagogical processes, etc. Several notifications were issued by the

Social Welfare, Woman and Child Development Department and Human Resource Development

Department regarding the ECCE programme launched in joint collaboration of both the

departments at various levels. Senior officials from Departments of Social Welfare and Education

under the leadership of Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, Women and Child Welfare went on

an exposure visit to Kerala, AP, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to study ECCE policy, material,

training, pedagogical processes, learning assessment and monitoring processes. This trip was

facilitated by UNICEF. It proved to be a good learning experience.

1.2.2 Collaboration with Education Department

On pilot basis, 1200 Anganwadi centres were chosen by Department of Social Welfare, Women

and Child Development and JEPC to work on pre-school learning in Anganwadis and facilitate

transition of 6 year old children to class I of nearby Primary School in 2011. In 2012, another

2400 Anganwadi centres (100 centres x 24 districts) have been chosen for strengthening

Anganwadi – Primary School convergence for quality pre-school learning in these centers

1.2.3 The National Forum on Quality Pre School Education in Rural Areas

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act in India has emphasized on

child-friendly child centered teaching learning processes to facilitate holistic development of

every child in 6 to 14 year age group. Various attempts are being made in the states to ensure

that every factor contributing to children’s development is looked into and all related issues are

addressed to make it a reality of every child. One major factor that contributes to the

development of a child in this direction is the child’s pre-school experience. Research has

provided ample evidences that performance of children in primary school, school completion, and

literacy levels are strongly associated with the quality of their early learning experiences both at

home and in pre-school programs.

Keeping this in view, UNICEF, Jharkhand office with the Government of Jharkhand hosted a

national forum on Quality Pre-Schooling (more commonly known as ECCE) in the rural context.

The forum was organized in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of

Jharkhand (GoJ). For the state it served as a learning opportunity for the policy makers,

PS toy regular

76%

PSE toy some 11%

PSE toy rarely 13%

Use of Toys for PSE

Total AWC 50%

Timing 30 min

0%

Timing60min 3%

Timing 90 min 47%

Time alloted for PSE

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curriculum designers, trainers and other practitioners to understand the great value of a

systematic pre-school learning programme by discussing with representatives from experienced

states and resource agencies. For the UNICEF Education Team, it provided a platform to share

the evolving ideas and experiences related to pre-school learning programme keeping in view

the challenges from rural context.

Participation of state representatives who have good experience of facilitating effective pre-

school learning programmes with focus on rural areas was ensured in the National forum. States

like Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Chhattisgarh,

Maharashtra, Assam etc, where some innovative activities have been carried out in pre-school

learning shared their experiences. Resource agencies including CECED (Centre for Early

Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University), CLR (Centre for Learning

Resources, Pune), Gali Gali Sim Sim (Mumbai), Parenting Network (TN), Andhra Mahila Sabha

(AMS - AP), NationalInstitute of Peoples Participation and Child Development and National

Council for Educational Research and Training (both in Delhi) also participated actively.

Other than a critical dialogue, an exhibition of materials from different states and resource

agencies was also set up. Materials included policy documents such as curriculum, syllabus,

training guidelines, teaching learning resources, ECCE kits, thematic books, training manuals,

monitoring tools, learning materials etc. The exhibition served as a resource library for the forum

to refer to and explore possibilities for doing things better in rural areas. Materials also included

audio-visual resources in form of films, cassettes etc for getting clear ideas about innovative and

effective practices in the field.

Post Forum developments:

Recommendations of Ranchi Forum were compiled in the form of the Ranchi

Declaration.The Ranchi Declaration, proceedings and Jharkhand experience were shared

with MHRD, MWCD and Planning Commission of Government of India. It was very well

appreciated by all the Ministries.

The Jharkhand experience along with Ranchi Forum Declaration was shared in the South

Asian Regional Conference held in Hotel Oberoi, New Delhi on August 27-29, 2012.

2400 Anganwadi centers (@ 100 centers per district) were identified for Anganwadi -

School Convergence. All the Anganwadi Centers were trained through state level and

district level training programmes in July – September, 2012.

ECCE kit designed under the guidance of UNICEF is being supplied by Department of

Social Welfare, Women and Child Development to around 38,700 centers.

Additional ECCE kit worth Rs. 2000 per center is being supplied under SSA to the 2400

Anganwadi centers where Anganwadi – School convergence is being facilitated.

Bilingual Picture Dictionaries in the name of ‘MeriBhasha Mein MeriDuniya’ have been

developed by UNICEF in 9 tribal and regional languages which will help in the Anganwadi -

School language readiness package.

School Readiness package titled ‘Ankur’ has been developed for enhancing school

readiness of students in early years. All teachers in the state have been trained on the

same. Learning activities in the Anganwadi Nursery School Kendras have been strremlined

by the use of Theme books, picture dictionaries

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1.2.4 Material/Content Development

Standardization of ECCE Kit and its distribution by both the Departments

For the first time since the formation of the state, the ECCE kit provisioned to be provided to the

AWCs by the Department of Social Welfare, Women and child Development was standardized

for all the 38,432 A WCs of the state. In a similar way, the additional kit to be

provided to the selected AWCs under the ECCE project was also standardized by JEPC,

Jharkhand.

The materials under Kit developed by SWWCD department include picture chart, counting frame,

plastic balls, Abacus Learning game, clay, fruit toys, stack rings etc. While the materials provided

by JEPC includes picture charts, alphabet books, pencil, crayons and stationeries, worksheets,

building blocks, foldable blackboard, chart paper, games kit including skipping rope, carom

board, ludo, kitchen set etc.

Material Development

A State Resource Team (SRT) was constituted by Department of Social Welfare, Women and

Child Development and Department of Human Resource Development in 2011 – 12 to draft the

following documents under the guidance of Education Specialist, UNICEF.

Draft ECCE Curriculum – A curriculum based on the draft national framework was

developed by the resource team with coverage on pedagogy for children’s learning,

organizing and planning of preschool education, setting qualification parameters for

Sevikas, requirement of infrastructure and physical resources, community participation,

and indicators for assessment of development based on developmental milestones

Draft Training Curriculum for Diploma in ECCE- A two years training curriculum has

been designed to ensure the availability of capacitated teachers with uniform abilities and

similar understanding in all the preschools of the state recommended by the National

Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) with state level specifications. The proposed

curriculum is divided into twelve courses, each one comprising of four to five units along

with tutorials and practical sessions.

Draft training module for training of Anganwadi workers – An ECCE training

package has been developed for developing child – friendly Anganwadi centers with

greater thrust on pre- school learning. Master Trainers were trained at the state level. All

the AWWs of the selected anganwadi centers were trained at the district headquarters

followed by the implementation at the village level.

Theme book – Theme books have been developed based on more than 55 themes for

the reference of the AWWs and the AWWs are capacitated to develop their own theme

books in the training programme organized by JEPC, Jharkhand. The themes are related

to the surrounding objects and events keeping in view the cultural flavour of the state.

Draft Academic Calendar – A state specific academic calendar has been developed

with 48 themes for the whole year along with the daily schedule of activities to be

organized in the AWCs of the state. Themes with essence of the culture of Jharkhand are

the main attraction of the calendar, such as- Village haat, Fairs, traditional ornaments

and festivals and folk dances.

ECCE Position paper – The ECCE position paper based on the national ECCE position

paper has been developed with state appropriate specifications. The said paper has

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been developed from the child’s perspective and promotes the activity based play way

learning in preschools.

Picture Dictionaries in 9 tribal and regional languages– Picture dictionaries in nine basic

languages of Jharkhand have been developed to ensure language development among

children and make them familiar with thecultural surroundings .The nine basic languages in

which the dictionaries are developed are Ho, Mundari, Kharia, Kurukh, Kurmali,

panchpargania, Santhali, Nagpuria and Khortha. These picture dictionaries demonstrate the

things in and outside the households, events, festivals, dances things present in natural

surroundings with the help of colourful pictures , thus bridging the gap between the mother

tongue and the school language. These picture dictionaries will be of immense help for

enabling the anganwadi workers address language disadvantage in AWCs and also in early

Primary classes. These are based on detailed studies to identify children”sfavourite activities

in rural areas. 60 themes have been picturised in these dictionaries with appropriate names

for each object or, incident in the Dictionaries.

Guidebook for ECCE kit- A guidebook describing the various materials for learning

through activities has also been developed by the resource team .the book explains the

use of different types of materials in the AWCs , i.e. indigenous materials from the

surrounding, self developed materials and materials provided by the MWCD and JEPC in

the ECCE kit.

Child-friendly Anganwadi Center guidebook- This book is developed with the

objective to guide the ICDS functionaries regarding the development of child friendly

AWCs. The concept of the ready child, ready schools for the child and the ready

community have been highlighted in the booklet.

Parent advocacy booklet - The booklet provides information about the care of children

from birth to eight years. It is a comprehensive handbook for parent’s advocacy to be

used by the AWWs in the field.

Facilitators Guidebook- A guidebook for facilitators has also been developed to make

them conversant on issues related to child care. This guidebook will develop counselling

skill among AWWs and enable them to organize small workshops on child care at the

village level.

Brochure on ECCE – A brochure describing the interventions on ECCE at all levels and

the details of the materials developed has also been designed in hindi.

School Language Readiness Package- School Language Readiness Package is an

ambitious initiative to strengthen the bridging in-between Hindi (the school language) and

regional or home language (mostly tribal language) before the children step into the

school. It is a special package for 3 months to enhance communication in their own

language with additional impetus in Hindi and at the same time also promote other skills

like, listening, understanding, working in groups, articulating and so on. The package is

designed and developed by keeping in mind the last child in the Anganwadi center,

irrespective of her/his age or registration date. The core intent of the package is to make

the child comfortable, help them to open up, create scope for lot of discussion (among

children, with Sewika and community members) simultaneously imbibe Hindi in the

discussion and lastly promote communication in Hindi.

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2. Piloting the ECE Curriculum in Jharkhand

Need for the Curriculum

In Jharkhand, Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) have been opened in every village. However, hitherto

focus remained on partial nutrition than on learning. Hence, in true sense, children in rural areas

have not benefitted much in terms of learning. Their overall school readiness is very low. So

when they are enrolled in primary schools at the age of 6, school’s teaching learning processes

seem very new and challenging to them to participate and continue. Maximum children dropout

of school at this stage and miss the opportunity! Free and compulsory education as assured in

the RTE Act turns out to be a distant goal without doing justice to pre-school learning of good

quality for all these children. Specific strategies need to be developed in the state for

strengthening of preschool education. The Social Welfare, Women and Child Development

Department has taken initiatives to transform the Khichdi centers in Jharkhand into Anganwadi

Nursery school centers

Role of Jharkhand in Development of Curriculum

Keeping in mind the need for a common shared curriculum across different states, NIPCCD

organized a workshop in its regional office to draft a curriculum inviting representatives from

different states.

Piloting of Curriculum in Jharkhand

Selection of Centres:

50 Centres were identified by the Department Social Welfare, Women & Child Development in

the two blocks of the state, Ranchi Sadar and Namkom Block.

25 Anganwadi workers, one supervisor and one Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) from

each project had been given specialised training by National Institute of Public Cooperation and

Child Development (NIPCCD), New Delhi in this regard. A sum of Rs one lakh has been given to

each project for development of training learning material for implementation of this curriculum.

Implementation of curriculum piloting

Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education have been divided into 4 domains like;

cognitive development, language development, creativity, gross motor skills and fine motor skills

development under physical development. During the training on curriculum implementation,

Sevikas have been trained on conducting activities through no cost low cost materials. A detailed

guide book has been provided to every Sevika based on themes of animal and transportation.

Sevikas have reflected upon different activities conducted under different domains and problems

faced in organizing these activities, which is listed below:

A. Cognitive development

Children in pre-school age, not only grow physically but they also develop cognitively. For

example; they develop their abilities related with memory, reasoning, problem solving and

thinking. In the curriculum for pre-school education several activities have been designed for

stimulating cognitive development of children. Reena Devi, Sevika Kata Toli II have reflected that

before the curriculum, she faced great difficulty in sustaining interest of children in the centre. But

now, activity oriented classes have increased interest level of children. Sevikas have detailed out

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the activities, they have conducted in their centre with details of materials used in conducting the

activity. They have also highlighted the practical problems in organizing these activities.

Activities Developed materials Challenges faced

Matching pictures 1. Pictures of small to big animals

2. Pictures of small to big birds

3. Pictures of small to big vehicles

4. Pictures of mother animal and their babies

1. Organizing activities have consumed a lot of time. Due to this the effective time for conducting the activities have got reduced.

2. Preparing teaching learning materials have also involved financial expenses.

3. Collection of materials for intellectual development

4. High amount of materials could not be developed by Sevika alone. It required efforts to generate support from neighbours and adolescent girls in preparing materials.

Matching shapes 1. Completing incomplete pictures

2. What is missing 3. Matching shapes with

pictures

Identifying colours 1. Matching colours through animals

2. Matching colours through means of transportation

3. Matching colours through birds

Puzzles 1. Paper cutout of animals 2. Paper cutouts of birds 3. Paper cut outs of means

of transportation

Due to time constraint, children faced difficulty in completing the activity.

Pre number concept 1. Pictures of birds, animals and means of transportation for counting numbers. for eg: 10 fishes, 5 birds, etc.

Difficulty in identifying numbers and counting.

Development of sensory organs- seeing, listening, smelling, feeling, tasting

1. Theme based materials Initially during the activities, it was difficult for children to identify pictures and organizing them.

Development of sensory organs was a part of every activity. There was no specific activity designed for it.

B. Language development

Children in pre-school education acquires language related skills when guided through activity

based approach. Langauage development in the areas of verbal and non- verbal communication

skills not only facilitates expression of thoughts but through this children can express their

feelings in correct manner. Sevika from anganwadi at Kanta toil II has reflected that with activities

designed for language development, children in her centre have now become more vocal. She

says ‘Aisha’ was a very shy girl and never opened up in anganwadi. She used to keep quite. But

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with participation in activities now she has changed a lot and also has started answering the

questions.

In the curriculum for language development of children different activities have been organized in

anganwadi centres, the detail of which is provided below:

Activities Developed materials Challenges faced

Puzzles Collection of puzzles related with frog, dog, cow, bicycle, etc.

Solving puzzles have been a new activity for children. They found it difficult to understand.

Story listening

Collection of stories and preparing cut outs and masks of animals for; Chunnu aur munnu ki sair, Rabbit and tortoise, Fox and crow

Listening stories have been very interesting for children. It improved their patience and listening capacity.

Poem/ songs

Collection of different poems and songs either from the curriculum guidebook or from other sources. For eg: Bandar mama, Hathi raza, Mor hu mor hu, Hari pili motor, Kabutar hu main kabutar hu

Children found this activity very interesting and their participation was high.

Story telling

Collection of stories and preparing cut outs and masks of animals. Examples of stories: Bakri aur bhalu Ser aur bhalu Hathi aur darji Saras aur lomdi

Children repeated the stories which have been earlier told to them with action and wearing masks. During the initial phase all the children in center not participated in the activity. But later every child started to take part in the activity.

Free discussion

Picture cards, masks, puppets for initiating activity. Examples of topics: - What have you done from

morning - What have you seen

while coming to anganwadi center

- Which means of transports you have seen on road

- Have you gone anywhere by using any means of transportation

During this activity almost every child participated in the discussion. The topic of discussion has been based on the themes. But some children came out to be naughty and disturbed the discussion.

Communication related games

Materials required for communication games. Examples: Introduction game

During the activity every child enjoyed a lot. No problem has been highlighted in conducting

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Patna se chitthi aaya, kissi ne dekha hi Calling names

this activity.

C. Physical development

a. Gross motor skills :different activities organized for development of gross motor skills are:

Activities Developed materials Challenges faced

Games

No specific material has been developed. Examples of some games: Andar bahar, Chuha billi, Following instruction like to sit and to jump Railgadi, Maina udd- chidia udd

Initially following instruction was difficult for children, but soon they got accustomed with it. Children enjoyed playing all the games.

Physical exercises No specific materials have been developed for physical exercises

There have been no difficulty in organizing physical exercises

b. Fine motor skills: for development of fine motor skills the activities organized are:

Activities Developed materials Challenges faced

Arranging things on different shapes

Materials collected like: Flowers, sand, leaves, pebbles, straws

Smaller children faced difficulty

Pasting things of shapes Materials collected like: Pulses, rice, straw, dalia

Smaller children faced difficulty

Joining dots to complete shape

Preparing picture or shapes outline with dots

This activity received a good response. Children got ready for writing

D. Social development

The values like co-operation and sharing, respecting and helping others are important part of

social development which has been developed through picture reading, language development

exercises, listening stories and games. During activities children learnt to share the materials and

co-operate as well a promote other children in completing the activities. Children have been

oriented in respecting elders, obeying parents, understanding relationship with younger ones and

elders. Sewika of Chadri basti anaganwadi centre has reflected that now children in her centre

greet their parents at home and anyone who comes to visit the centre.

E. Creative development

To provide children in pre-school education opportunities for sense of aesthetic appreciation and

creativity, a number of activities have been designed. Simple activities have provided children a

scope for creativity through drawing colouring self-expression and active exploration,

investigation and experimentation.

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Experience in pre-testing and post-testing

Pre-testing for piloting of curriculum has been done in all the 50 anganwadi centres. It was based

on questionnaire covering every domain of learning. Simple questions have been framed to find

out the cognitive, language, fine motor skills and creative development level of children. On the

same questions post-test has also been designed to be conducted. The total time taken to

conduct the pre-test and post-test in every centre varied between 3 to 4 hours.

Pre-test has been a learning experience for Sevikas. Earlier than this there were no such test

conducted for finding out the level of learning of children. Reflection of Sevikas on the pre-test

experience is as follows:

1. Learning level of children: Till now, anganwadi centres were serving as supplementary

nutrition centres. Without any schedule and activity calendar, children were learning

through the materials available in centre like charts, blackboard, slate, chalk, pencil,

paper, blocks, etc. there was less of focussed discussion among children. Hence, when

they have been evaluated on the basis of their cognitive level, language and creative

development, a true picture emerged. Now, Sevikas were able to evaluate learning level

of children. Some of the Sevikas have reflected that their children were not able to tell

evaluator beyond their names and secured zero marks.

2. Introvert nature of children: This kind of interaction has been a new thing for children.

They appeared to be introvert in speaking before the officials.

3. Data for further improvement: for the very first time in any anganwadi centre this kind of

evaluation has been conducted. Sevikas have reflected that they never had any authentic

report to know the learning level of children. These children have never appeared before

any tests. Hence, they felt happy that after the test now at least they have data to bank

upon.

After two months of teaching children through theme based activities, post- tests have been

organized in the same centres. Reflections of Sevikas on their feelings during the post-test are

as follows:

1. Learning level of children: after two months of activity based sessions with children,

centre has seen many changes in children. Their participation level has improved. While

woring in groups they have shared the materials and promoted each other in learning.

Activities Developed materials Challenges faced

Handicraft making Collection of material like: Shoe box, chart papers, empty boxes, etc.

Collection of materials have been difficult

Drawing pictures and filling colours

Collection of materials like chart papers, colour pens, pecils, eraser

Provision of materials for every child has been developed

Collage making Cutting of pictures based on themes

Provision of materials for every child has been developed

Clay model making Clay During the activity hands and clothes of children got dirty

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This was clearly visible in their performance and learning levels. Sevikas have reflected

that during the post-test they were highly tensed about their performance, as it was also

a test of their hard work. But, they have been observed improvement in children

performance and felt happy about it.

Change in introvert nature of children: Working in groups and participating in group activities

have improved their interpersonal communication skills. Children participated in discussions

organized for their language development. Some Sevikas have also shared that even those

children who never opened up in anganwadi have started communicating with each other. As a

result, during the post-test evaluation too, children have opened up before the evaluating official.

Report as per the Format filled by AW Sewika of 25 centres in Ranchi Sadar Block

Enrolment & Attendance in the Anganwadi Centers

Out of the 24 Anganwadi Centers surveyed, it was observed that the total enrolment of children

in the Anganwadi was just 48% of the total children in the Anganwadis catchment area. One of

the major reason for this is that a majority of this 24 centers are in the urban center in and around

Ranchi, hence apart from the Anganwadi centers, the parents also send their young ones to play

centers, nursery schools etc.

The average attendance across the 24 centers is 81% and it ranged from 60% in some center to

even 100% in a few AW centers. The children and Anganwadi Sewika both reflected that they

enjoy the time spent at the Anganwadi center and children particularly enjoyed the games and

activities organized at the center.

Physical Infrastructure

Only 4% of the Anganwadis have their own building. Most of the AW centers run on

rented premises or community centers. Around 17% of the Anganwadi Sewikas felt that

the building where AW center is being run is structurally unsafe.

17% of the AW centers do not have sufficient space for providing comfortable sitting

space for the children. 20% of the centers do not have pucca flooring at the center.

Around 40% of the AW centers do not have sufficient space for games and indoor-

outdoor activities. None of the centers reported availability of fun structures like slides,

swings etc. Around 29% of the AW centers had gardens with flowering and non-flowering

plants.

More than 65% of the AW centers had facilities for safe drinking water for children but

only 21% had toilet facilities in the AW premises. 58% of the AW centers had availability

of Garbage bin for safe disposal of waste materials.

Nutrition

All the anganwadis reported good practices related to nutrition provisions of children in

the AW centers. Cent percent of the centers reported timely provision of food to children

at the center, cleanliness and sanitation maintained while preparing the food items and

facility for hand-washing before and after taking the meals by the children.

Around 50% of the centers had separate storage room for storing the food-grains and

utensils required for cooking.

Child-friendly Elements

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Around 92% of the AW centers displayed pictures, charts and other materials on the

center walls. Ground level blackboards were reported in 67% of the centers.

Early Childhoold Education Kits were available with 83% of the AW centers and around

71% of the Sewikas reported availability and use of TLM like books on riddles, songs,

stories etc.

Around 88% of the centers reported that they had received the NIPCCD academic

calendar and they follow the theme based time-calendar.

Community Involvement and Capacity Building of AW Sewikas

It was encouraging to note that discussion with community members were done on the

importance of pre-school education in 100% of the AW centers during community

meetings.

Children from the AW center have also been involved with the community as more than

90% of the Sewikas shared that children perform songs, poems, dance and other events

during community events. 91.7% of the centers reported that they get support for AW

infrastructure and other logistics from the community on a regular basis.

Only 45% of the Sewikas shared that orientation on Pre-school activities have been

provided at Sector level meetings. 100% of the AW sewika had received training on the

Pre-school education but only 87% of the AW sahayika had received the similar

orientation. Less than 9% of the Adolescent girls groups had received any orientation on

Pre-school education.

Only 50% of the centers reported that children from their centers had undertaken an

exposure visit to the nearby primary schools. Nearly half of the surveyed Sewikas shared

that teachers from the nearby Primary school had visited the AW center. 41% of the

centers shared that events had been organized at village level through joint partnership

between the schools and the AW centers.

Record Keeping

Health checkup has been observed in around 95% of the AW center in the past year and

all the centers keep a record of the health checkup.

100% of the centers maintain the documents and records related to attendance, survey

register, birth & death register, Stock register of food ingredients and growth chart of the

children.

3. Support system

Piloting of the ECCE curriculum was an innovative initiative which required a lot of support at

various levels .It was a big challenge to introduce a completely new way of teaching at the

Anganwadi centers with limited resources and less capacitated AWWs . A support system was

established at various levels to overcome the problem :-

The preparatory phase

C.D.P.O.:- The CDPO facilitated successful completion of the training programme and helped

the AWWs to minutely understand the theme based approach of the curriculum. Her frequent

visits to the selected AWCs were helpful in making the plan actually work at the grass root level.

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Lady Supervisor:-The lady Supervisors made frequent visits to the selected AWCs with an

objective to prepare the AWWs for the implementation of the newly introduced curriculum. The

learning materials developed by the AWWs were reviewed during the sector level meetings and

the AWWs were supported by the lady supervisors to further improve them.

Parents and the Community:- The parents supported in arranging the AWCs according to the

nature of activities undertaken during the piloting process. They helped in preparing the children

for adopting the new set of activities to be carried out at the AWCs. Many parents extended their

support in development of learning materials by providing materials , as well as sparing time .

Adolescent girls:- A number of adolescent girls came forward during the preparation of the

piloting exercise. They helped in preparing the children and their parents for a change in the day

to day activities of the Anganwadi centres. They also extended their support in development of

materials through collecting things from the village for developing learning materials as well as

making the materials themselves.

Children:- The children were quite enthusiastic to see the material development process along

with a change in their daily routine. They supported the AWWs by coming regularly to the AWCs

and actively participating in all the activities .

Implementation phase

CDPO: Frequent visits were made by the CDPO in the selected centres to monitor the quality of

implementation . She identified the problem s in carrying out the activities and then and their

found solutions for them.

Lady Supervisors

The lady supervisors provided on the job training to the AWWs and facilitated hands on practice

for using the newly developed learning materials . They ensured regular visits to the AWCs and

provided supportive supervision to the anganwadi workers. The sector level meetings organized

by the lady Supervisors were used as platforms to reorient the AWWs on development and use

of the learning materials , as well as the problems in implementation of the curriculum.

Parents and the Community

Parents extended their support by motivating children to attend the preschool activities regularly,

coming in time dressed up properly. The family members helped them practice the activities at

home, thus improving upon their skills of singing, solving problems, making things , sharing

experiences, playing games , drawing and colouring etc. Initially some of the children used to run

away from the Anganwadi centre . The community members helped in bringing them back to the

centre. It was encouraging to see some of the parents watching the joyful activities being held at

the centre with appreciation . They even helped in counselling the parents who never sent their

children to the Anganwadi centre and convinced them about the new teaching methodology .

Adolescent girls

Some of the adolescent girls from the Kishori Samooh helped a lot in developing the teaching

learning materials. They spared time from their household chores and came to the Anganwadi

centre with waste materials collected from the households, such as- old newspapers, pieces of

clothes, hard boards, empty boxes of biscuits and chocolates etc. The girls were quite amused to

develop materials for joyful learning. They also helped in conducting activities, narrating stories,

organizing games , making arrangements for nature walk etc.

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Children

The children were quite enthusiastic to participate in the joyful learning activities, totally different

from the traditional teaching method. They easily adopted the new pedagogy and fitted

themselves into the new time schedule. Their active involvement helped the anganwadi workers

in organizing the activities effectively .The interesting activities motivated the children to come

regularly to the centre and learn through joyful activities.

4. Key Learning/Major Finding

Visible changes in anganwadi

SN Indicators Before curriculum pilot After curriculum pilot

1. Environment of anganwadi

Since, there were no curriculum, anganwari lacked planned activities. It was a mixture of reading writing and playing.

Now, there is theme based activities planned in a systematic manner. A detailed guidance has been provided on how to conduct the activities. Now the environment is activity oriented and involves each and every child in the center.

2. Participation level of children

Before the piloting, there was flexibility in reporting time of children. Many children just came to play in the center while they get tiffin and lunch.

After the initiation of theme based activities in centers, the interest level of children have increased. Children are coming to anganwadi on time and are involved throughout the activities.

3. Use of TLMs Before the initiation of theme based activities in center, there were limited TLMs available. Due to this children were having limited access and learning from them. However, in some centers, Sevika applied some innovative techniques, but it was limited to only handful of centers.

During the piloting Sevikas have prepared TLMs form the locally available resource materials. Now it is available in ample quantity. during the activities, these materials are being used by children in groups. Children are very interested while duing the activities due to the materials prepared by Sevika.

4. Role of Sevika Before the piloting Sevika were having less information on theme based activities. Anganwadi was working as nutrition center and children were learning through paper pencil exercises and traditional materials like alphabet charts, number charts, etc.

During the piloting of curriculum, Sevikas have been trained in conducting theme based activities. During the sessions, self- prepared learning materials have been used; Sevika related the theme with the surrounding environment for improved interaction and discussion among children on the theme.

5. Role of Sahaika Before the piloting of curriculum, Sahaika’s role in anganwadi was limited to taking care of children and cooking food.

During the piloting of curriculum, the center was to be converted into nursery schools. there were additional activities to be conducted in the center apart from supplementary nutrition center. Sahaika has also been given additional

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responsibilities in which they had to help Sevika in conducting activities and preparing teaching learning materials.

6. Attendance of children

Before pilot, activities conducted in anganwadi were not scheduled. No specific activity calendar was provided hence random activities used to be conducted. Due to absence of activities, children were using rote method of learning. Due to this children were coming to the center as per their will and their participation was not very high. Attendance of children was high during tiffin and lunch hours, smaller kids usually came and go upon their will.

During the pilot, activities have involved children and raised their interest in coming to anganwadi. Now children sit in groups, use TLMs and participate in activities with other children. This has improved the attendance and throughout presence of children in the centers.

7. Support from parents and community

Earlier than pilot, children were coming to the center in irregular way. Sometimes children were coming and going without taking interest in the center activities.

Parents and community members always wanted that children’s time should be utilized well. With the scheduled activity calendar children’s performance has improved. Now, children discuss their learning in homes too. Parents have realized this change in their children and are extending their support to Sevikas.

8. Pedagogical method

Earlier, Sevika used to teach children through the charts for identification of things, animals, alphabets, numbers. main objective was to provide basic numeracy and literacy skills to children. Usually younger children repeated the alphabets and numbers after the elder children. Children played traditional games in center.

During the pilot, the traditional rote method of learning got changed with activity based methods. With the defined schedule based on themes like animals and transport, children took part in specific activities which have been designed for specific learning. Children have been divided in groups and provided with learning materials which they used during the activities. The guided environment built by Sevika, enthused learning level of children.

9. Habit of cleanliness, drinking water and use of toilets in children

Before the pilot, children came unprepared to anganwadi center. At that time center was not treated as nursery school. Children came to take breakfast and lunch.

Now parents know that children would be present in anganwadi throughout the session. Hence, they are sending their children fully prepared, as elder children get prepared for attending their school. In this regard, the bathing and cleanliness habits of children have seen improvement.

10. Nutritional supplements

Main objective of the center was supplying nutritional

This has been already systemized in all

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supplements to the children, which was complied with punctuality.

the centers.

11. Child performance

Without any activity calendar and schedule, children were not able to do activities.

After conducting theme based activities in centers, children participation, interest and performance have improved. Even those children, who have never opened up before others are now participating in the discussions and activities.

5. Challenges in implementing the curriculum pilot

Piloting of the curriculum has been a learning phase for Sevikas, parents, children as well as the

department. During the piloting of curriculum a broader picture has been captured through

analysis of challenges. These challenges have been narrated by Sevikas keeping in mind their

centre and the practical problems in conducting theme based activities for two months. The

major challenges have been the following:

1. Development of TLM (Teaching learning material): preparation of theme based teaching

learning material has been very challenging. It consumed a lot of time. Most of Sevikas

has highlighted that due to the time constraint they faced difficulty in preparing learning

materials. As a result sufficient material has not been available for some of the activities.

In some centres quality of material suffered due to the personal artistic skills. Moreover

they had to put hard efforts in availing raw-materials for preparing the TLMs.

2. Co-operation from community: during the initiation of piloting, it was difficult for the

community to understand the theme based activities. Initially they were not able to

understand that even without use of paper- pencil, children can learn through simple

activities and games. Shifting the objective of anganwadi from nutrition centre to a

nursery school with different approach have been a difficult process and is still

continuing.

3. Working with children: working with children while conducting activities have been quqite

challenging. It was difficult to make them sit in groups. During activities groups got mixed

up easily. While working with the TLMs every child wanted to have them and many

materials have been damaged by smaller kids.

4. Organizing activities: initially during organizing activities, children used to get into small

fights over sitting in which groups with friends, with Sevika, etc. during the initial days

activities suffered due to late reporting of school but slowly parents have understood the

involvement of children in activities, which changed the picture. Some cases have been

reported when children escaped from the centre and have to be traced and brought back.

5. Support from other stakeholders: financial expenses in procuring the raw material has

been a limiting factor for the Sevikas. Sevikas have to purchase materials likes card

board, colour pens, water colours, etc.

6. Memorable Experiences

Dharamshila Srivastava ,AWW, Chadri

I am implementing the new curriculum in my AWNSC after receiving a three days training, which has

helped me to organize joyful activities in the centre. It is a pleasant surprise to watch the children

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participating in all the activities with great enthusiasm. Now the parents themselves bring their children

to the AWC. They are even more happier to watch their children learn through joyful activities in the

Anganwadi centre which has now turned into a nursery Kendra.

Previously many children could not even tell their names, but now they are able to introduce themselves

and recall their daily routine. They have learned to respect their elders and have gained knowledge and

skills related to the given themes.

The parents have extended their support by dropping the children sharp at 8.00 AM and collecting them

at 1.00 PM. Many adolescent girls support in organizing activities, narrating stories , singing songs etc.

Case study

Gayatri Minz

A little girl named Gayatri Minz comes from a far off hamlet . Previously she was irregular and used to

speak very less. Thanks to the joyful activities recently introduced .Now she talks with all the children

and even leads in preparing for the activities , communicating with the children about the present days

activity. Sometimes she makes handicrafts and clay toys at home and brings them along with her. Her

parents report that she is eager to come to the AWC even on Sundays. They are too happy to see the

little girl reciting poems, singing songs and making things.

Sweta Kumari

A little girl Sweta kumari was never sent to Anganwadi centre by her family members. When the new

interventions were initiated in the centre, her mother Keshari Devi gradually started taking interest in

the activities . Now her father Awadhesh Ram regularly brings the child to the AWC .He has also

motivated other community members to sent their children and even brings two more kids from his

neighbourhood named Alina Lakra and Kriti Munda along with his daughter.

Anna Mariyana Ekka, Ahir Karamtoli

The children of my centre are now very happy to participate in the theme based activities They have

learnt to make several things and shapes, draw and colour pictures, share experiences , dance and sing

and to play games.

Sangeeta Kumari

A little girl named Sangeeta Kumari lives in the area of another AWC. Her parents bring her to the Ahir

Karamtoli AWC everyday to learn through joyful activities, as the AWC in their area has not been selected

for piloting of the new curriculum. Initially the child did not spoke , but she has developed a lot in the

past two months. Now she can introduce herself, as well as communicate with other children, sing songs,

do exercises and participate in all the activities.

Choti Kumari

Chotti was brought everyday to the centre by her mother, but she used to run away within one hour.

Now the newly developed learning materials have attracted her and towards joyful learning . She enjoys

the activities and participates with great enthusiasm. Now she also comes with her cousins who live

nearby and participates actively in the activities.

Manju Kacchap , AWW, Hindpiri, Third Street

Now we do not need to call children everyday to the AWC. They come timely on their own and stay for

the whole day.Community participation has also increased to a great extent.

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Case Study

Akanksha Tigga, 10 years have provided immense support in developing materials like picture charts on

the given themes. She has also developed beautiful poems, stories and several learning materials. All the

parents appreciate her efforts and have started taking interest in the TLM development process.

Akanksha has linked them with the AWC and motivated them to own their AWC as their own.

Rami

Rami is a mentally challenged girl, who enjoys reciting poems and singing songs. Initially she was not

very comfortable with other activities like- matching, drawing , colouring etc. The AWW gave special

attention to the child and made attempts to make her participate in all the activities and also repeated

the activities as per her convenience. Now she is skilled enough to participate in all the activities.

Gulshan Ara, AWW, Bargai, Pahantoli

It is a pleasant experience to see several parents watching their children participating in joyful activities

.Many of them help in organizing activities as well as traditional games and sometimes narrate stories

related to the village . Frequent trainings should be organized for AWWs on ECCE.

Gayatri Kumari

Gayatri is a physically challenged girl. Previously she did not come regularly to the centre , as her mother

goes out every day for earning. After the initiation of the piloting exercise, Gayatri has started coming

regularly to the centre on her own. She has developed skills for playing , organizing things, drawing

pictures and singing songs. She eagerly expresses her desire to lead the activities and comes forward for

cooperating in activities.

Sushma Devi, AWW,Shrinagar

The ECCE training has helped me to run my Anganwadi in a better manner. The children as well as the

parents are happy to go through the joyful pedagogy initiated in the centre. The parents bring their

children in time and admire the positive changes in their behaviour. Previously I was concerned about the

less number of children coming regularly to the AWC. But many thanks to the new way of teaching which

has changed the entire environment. Children enjoy coming to the Anganwadi Nursery school centre

.They take keen interest in listening to stories, drawing, colouring and making things. They are able to

narrate stories after observing the pictures and are eager to know more and more about the activities.

They are so engaged with the activities that the time provided seems to be insufficient. It makes me

happy to see them effectively communicating with others. Number of regular children in the Anganwadi

centre is also increasing day by day.

Adlin Ekka, AWW, Hindpiri Bhatti Chawk

Previously children came to the centre with the only objective of eating khichri and they used to run

away after having their meal. I used to teach them in a haphazard way without planned activities or

specific themes. Now through the newly developed materials children find the activities very interesting

and they actively engage themselves with the activities. Some of them come before the scheduled time

and wait eagerly for participating in the activities. Organizing activities in small groups have helped a lot

towards managing the classroom efficiently .Children have developed interest in learning and have

acquired a number of skills.

Ramni Devi, AWW, Sindwar Toli

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The new learning method has increased the attraction of AWC for the children .Initially it appeared

difficult to organize the preschool activities in a different way, but now the children are accustomed to

the play way method of learning . I find it difficult to manage all the activities alone, but my sahaika along

with some of the adolescent girls and parents support me in the same. Some of the mothers are doubtful

about the impact of the play way method and they ask me to make the child read and write.

Reena Devi, AWW, Kantatoli II

It was very difficult to prepare learning materials everyday according to the schedule of the next day. But

at the same time it was a pleasant experience to organize activities with the developed materials

according to the given schedule and watch he curious children enjoying them.

Sangita Kacchap,AWW, Bariatu Adivasi Tola

The new activity based learning method is appreciated by the parents .They are happy to see their children engaged for the whole day. The given themes are in accordance with the interest of children.

Reflection of Sevika from Edelhatu Upar tola

I feel happy to enter my centre these days as I know that I am doing good job. Earlier, I used to

teach without any schedule, but now with the curriculum, I am teaching in a structured manner.

However, I faced some difficulty in preparing teaching learning materials, due to time and

material constraint. I observed that every child wanted to have the material during activity and

their interest got increased. Some of the children waited in front of centre even on Sunday

morning in hope of opening up of centre. Parents have also realized these changes in children

and they are sending them on time. I have felt that if I continue to organize activities in structured

manner, then children would learn and they would continue coming to centre regularly.

“Sheena is started coming to anganwadi regularly”

Sheena in Edelhatu Upar tola, was initially a very shy girl. Her mother has difficulty in sending

her to the centre. She was always ready to go home and even ran away before the centre got

closed at 1 pm. A great change in her behaviour has been noticed now. Colourful and interesting

learning materials available in the centre have increased her interest. Slowly she has started

taking part in the discussion and activities. She has opened up and stepped in the bright world

along with her friends where she is learning new things and getting ready for school.

Reflection of Jayanti Tirki, Hathia Gonda

Interest level of children in coming to centre has increased. Some children are even coming to

centre ahead of time. They happily take part in activities and their mischiefs have reduced. Some

mothers have shared that their wards always sings or dances at home too and wants to come to

the centre. They themselves get ready for coming to centre. Earlier that theme based activities in

centre, children used to fight with each other. They only played in and outside the centre, ate

Khichdi and left. But now with the curriculum, my centre has become nursery school and parents

have realized that their children are learning new things here.

Sahil Lakra, Hathia Gonda

Sahil Lakra is 5 years old. Whenever I tried to bring him in centre, he always ran away. The

activities in centre could not interest him. During the last two months, activiites based on theme

have been organized in centre. Different colourful low cost- no cost materials have been

developed. But now, he is the first children to reach centre in the morning. He takes keen interest

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in activities and participates in them. His mother shared that during these two months he have

learnt counting and become very active.

Reflection of Rehana Bano, Sevika Bhiththa Purani Masjid

Changes have happened in my centre during last two months. Children are coming to centre on

time. They ask for activities planned for the day and take active participation in it. Parents are

happy to see this and all those children who were not coming to centre earlier have now started

coming to centre.

Barkha has started talking.

Barkha was a very shy girl. But in the last two months, she has changed a lot. Theme based

activities has helped her to come out of her shell. Her mother says- it is difficult to stop her now,

she always talks and dances.

Usha Kumari

In the initial days of running this program, children faced a little difficulty in making the transition.

But gradually children started opening up and started enjoying and participating in all the

activities. I observed that the children who were earlier reluctant and shy also started

participating actively in all the developmental activities. Children confidently expressed their

experiences as part of the Language Development activities.

Kriti, a 3 year old girl at my center, was not even able to tell her name or what she had for meal.

But she enjoyed coming to the Anganwadi and enjoyed the activites involving story telling, songs,

games etc. Slowly and slowly by participating in the activities and interacting with other children

she started speaking words and small sentences like “Mera paari, hum karenge, hum karenge”

(It’s my turn, now I will do.)

Like Kriti, Nikhil was also very shy and silent in the AW center. But now Nikhil too actively

participates in activities like coloring, making clay toys, singing songs, and now interacts with

everyone.

Children have grown in confidence and started enjoying activities like tearing and pasting paper,

songs, etc. Children enjoy relating their day to day experiences in the different activities.

Sushila Ekka

Children enjoy the experience of giving shapes to clay to mould them into various shapes as

seen by them in their day to day lives. Some children draw wheel, some draw birds while few

also draw motorbikes and modes of transport.

One child in my area never wanted to come to the AW center, but after seeing the toys and other

interesting materials he regularly comes to the center.

Amba and Dhara, the twins were very shy and reserved but slowly with the activity rich sessions,

started opening up and participating and interacting with other children and AW staff.

Shusma P Kujur

Sharing from her experience, Shushma tells about an interesting session wherein children got

the opportunity to share their experiences and understanding.

“Once children were being told about the souces of water. In this context, the Sewika said that

her Nani’s (grandmother’s) house is on the opposite side of the river and asked children that how

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will she go to her Nani’s home. Some of the children answered that she can go by boat, while

one student remarked that she could swim and reach that place. On hearing this, one of the

children remarked that the clothes would get wet while swimming to which a child said that we

should remove all our clothes and then swim and cross the river. Hearing this all the children

started laughing.”

Daisy Suchita Kerketta

Earlier we used to teach the children without using any teaching-learning materials. Due to this

the children faced lot of difficulties as they were not able to relate to their local context. But in this

curriculum, there is provision for use of learning materials and activity oriented learning

processes to activate curiosity and learning desire among the children. Children’s attendance

and participation in the center has increased and children eagerly wait for their turn to perform

their activities.

Some of the children in the center never used to speak at the center but noow these children

actively participate in the activities and interact with each other.

Sandhya Devi

Children’s enrolment and attendance in the center has increased after the piloting of this

curriculum. Children love to interact with each other during the various interesting and fun

activities. Children are eager for their turn to do the activities.

7. Recommendations

Development/ Buying of the learning materials

The piloting process required development of a lot of teaching learning materials , which seemed

to be difficult at the anganwadi workers level due to various reasons illustrated as follows:-

There was very little or no time left with the AWWs for material development during the

piloting of the curriculum , as she had to be involved in conducting the intensive activities

every day. It was a rigorous task to prepare the learning materials regularly, as well as to

arrange the classroom according to the scheduled activities. It was suggested to provide

more time for material development or to provide ready materials for conducting

activities.

The learning materials provided in the kit by the Social welfare ,WCD Department should

be in accordance with the ECCE curriculum . They should be durable and multipurpose

for conducting a variety of activities. The materials should also be nontoxic and harmless

for children.

If the materials are to be developed at the AWCs, some amount must be provided by the

SWWCD Department for the same, as a variety of materials are required for making

child friendly learning materials which seems to be difficult without procuring appropriate

raw materials.

Capacity building of the AWWs

The Anganwadi workers expressed the need for training with more practical sessions on

material development for joyful learning. They accepted that due to lack of material

development skills, many of the Anganwadi workers could not complete the task in time

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with required quality. It was suggested that the AWWs as well as the Anganwadi helpers

must be trained on material development for ECCE at regular interval of six months.

The duration of the ECCE trainings should be longer, so that the AWWs from divergent

academic backgrounds may be able to acquire the desired skills and reach a uniform

level for developing the materials and conducting the preschool activities with quality.

Conduction of Activities

In order to organize the ECCE activities with quality, it is essential that each AWC has its

own building, with proper infrastructural facilities, i.e. appropriate classrooms with enough

sitting space, open space for playing, arrangements for safe drinking water and toilets. Most

of the AWCs in urban area do not have their own buildings which is the biggest challenge.

It was suggested that the anganwadi helper should also be trained for providing help to the

AWWs in organizing the ECCE activities.

It was suggested that the children must be provided uniform, so that the community as well

as the children may recognize the AWC as a nursery school.

Monitoring and support

Regular visits by the CDPO and the lady supervisors must be ensured for supportive

supervision of the activities. These visits may be utilized as opportunities for on the job

training of the AWWs.

The AWWs also expressed the need for age appropriate toys, picture charts, Slates and

chalk for all the children along with Swings ,sliders etc. For outdoor activities.

Cluster approach for providing hands on experience will be fruitful to provide supportive

supervision to he AWWs.

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Annexure : Status of the AW Sewika and AW Sahayika in the State

S.N Districts AW Sewika AW Sahayika

Sanction In position Vacant Sanction In position Vacant

1 Hazaribagh 1826 1826 0 1750 1750 0

2 Ramgarh 1042 1042 0 1002 1002 0

3 Dhanbad 2231 2231 0 2103 2103 0

4 Giridih 2431 2429 2 2347 2345 2

5 Bokaro 2256 2168 88 2135 2079 56

6 Chatra 1110 1110 0 951 951 0

7 Koderma 709 699 10 678 673 5

8 Dumka 2060 2060 0 1936 1936 0

9 Jamtara 1189 1186 3 1008 1007 1

10 Deoghar 1567 1567 0 1525 1525 0

11 Godda 1791 1790 1 1737 1736 1

12 Pakur 1167 1166 1 1101 1101 0

13 Sahebganj 1688 1688 0 1603 1603 0

14 Ranchi 2832 2831 1 2589 2589 0

15 Khunti 840 840 0 765 765 0

16 Gumla 1670 1670 0 1454 1454 0

17 Simdega 965 964 1 927 927 0

18 Lohardaga 749 747 2 679 679 0

19 E. Singhbhum 1722 1722 0 1688 1688 0

20 W. Singhbhum 2330 2330 0 2023 2023 0

21 Saraikela 1370 1370 0 1349 1349 0

22 Palamu 2583 2570 13 2276 2270 6

23 Latehar 974 974 0 925 925 0

24 Garhwa 1330 1330 0 1330 1330 0

Grand Total 38432 38310 122 35881 35810 71

Page 27 of 28

Annexure: Status of Positions filled of LS and CDPO in the State

SN Name of District

Total No. of AWCs Total No. of LS Total No. of CDPOs No. of AWCs supervised by one LS

Sanctione

d Operational % Sanctioned Filled % Sanctioned filled %

1 Simdega 715 715 100.0 20 15 75.0 6 5 83.3 47

2 Giridih 2111 1972 93.4 65 55 84.6 13 9 69.2 38

3 Ramgarh 989 969 98.0 41 24 58.5 4 4 100.0 41

4 Jamtara 992 989 99.7 27 12 44.4 4 4 100.0 83

5 W.Singhbhum 1824 1797 98.5 49 23 46.9 15 9 60.0 79

6 Saraikela 1239 1230 99.3 35 15 42.9 8 5 62.5 82

7 Bokaro 1963 1956 99.6 54 27 50.0 10 8 80.0 73

8 Deoghar 1387 1367 98.6 39 31 79.5 9 9 100.0 45

9 Sahebganj 1228 1227 99.9 37 19 51.4 7 2 28.6 64

10 Koderma 584 582 99.7 15 10 66.7 4 4 100.0 58

11 E.Singhbhum 1557 1556 99.9 43 24 55.8 10 10 100.0 65

12 Garhwa 1208 1206 99.8 31 9 29.0 8 2 25.0 134

13 Latehar 856 849 99.2 25 10 40.0 7 3 42.9 85

14 Pakur 1064 1056 99.2 32 14 43.8 6 6 100.0 76

15 Chatra 893 884 99.0 15 6 40.0 6 5 83.3 148

16 Hazaribagh 1742 1706 97.9 38 35 92.1 12 11 91.7 50

17 Godda 1502 1485 98.9 40 17 42.5 8 4 50.0 88

18 Dumka 1795 1785 99.4 48 31 64.6 10 6 60.0 58

19 Gumla 1336 1334 99.9 35 29 82.9 11 9 81.8 46

20 Lohardaga 629 626 99.5 12 11 91.7 5 4 80.0 57

21 Ranchi 2266 2252 99.4 61 58 95.1 15 14 93.3 39

22 Khunti 690 688 99.7 19 18 94.7 6 4 66.7 38

23 Palamu 1834 1792 97.7 50 30 60.0 11 4 36.4 61

24 Dhanbad 1911 1910 99.9 58 55 94.8 8 8 100.0 35

25 Total 32532 31933 98.2 889 578 65.0 203 149 73.4 55

Page 28 of 28

Annexure :Status of AWCs

S.no Districts Projects No of AWCs

Sanction Funtional

1 2 3 4 5

1 Hazaribagh 12 1826 1826

2 Ramgarh 4 1042 1042

3 Dhanbad 8 2231 2231

4 Giridih 13 2431 2429

5 Bokaro 10 2256 2168

6 Chatra 6 1110 1110

7 Koderma 4 709 699

8 Dumka 10 2060 2060

9 Jamtara 4 1189 1186

10 Deoghar 9 1567 1567

11 Godda 8 1791 1790

12 Pakur 6 1167 1166

13 Sahebganj 7 1688 1688

14 Ranchi 15 2832 2831

15 Khunti 6 840 840

16 Gumla 11 1670 1670

17 Simdega 7 965 964

18 Lohardaga 5 749 747

19 East Singhbhum 10 1722 1722

20 West Singhbhum 15 2330 2330

21 Saraikela 8 1370 1370

22 Palamu 11 2583 2570

23 Latehar 7 974 974

24 Garhwa 8 1330 1330

Grand Total 204 38432 38310