Mobile Creches Innovative Responses to Challenges on the Ground

Mobile Creches Innovative Responses to Challenges on the Ground

Sudeshna SenguptaSr. Manager, Advocacy,

September, 2014.

Defining ECCE: ECCE Policy, India, 2013

• Refers to programmes and provision from pre-natal to six years

• Reaching out to children in multiple locations through multiple providers

• Standardising quality

• Curriculum framework

• Provision to cater to all domains of development i.e. physical, motor, language, cognitive, socio- emotional, and creative and aesthetic appreciation

• Developmental priorities for each sub stage within the continuum, i.e. care, early stimulation/interaction needs for children below 3 years

• Developmentally appropriate preschool education for 3 to 6 year olds with a more structured and planned school readiness component for 5 to 6 year olds

• Ensure synergy with health and nutrition aspects

Challenges to respond to

• Diverse situations – geographical, ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic

• Urbanisation – challenges of space/infrastructure

• Convergence

• Access – inclusion, equity

• Poverty

Mobile Creches Response

Based on

•The scientific argument•The social justice and equity argument•The rights argument• The economic argument

For

• Children of Migrant Parents• Children in Urban Slums• All Children at risk - income poverty, poverty of opportunity

Through strategies that take ground level learning forward to influencing policy environment

Mobile Creches Response

Direct interventions - services, model building Community mobilization and system strengthening with

community engagement MC as a Resource Leading Civil Society Movements and Policy interventions

Response 1: Holistic Daycare Model

Impact of Day Care Program

• Safety, security and protection for an average of 1200 children everyday

• Relief from sibling care for 400 children

• Nutritional Grade Improvement – 72%

• Age Appropriate Immunization – 98%

• Mainstreaming older children – 20 to 30%

• Linkage with Government Health Services – 90%

• ECCE Programmes everyday with planned activities

Learning by playing Empowering mothers

Response 2: Community Engagement

Direct community engagements at urban settlements. Momentum at Ground level around young child agenda, Evidence building, monitoring

Work with the government to strengthen the state provisions at the local level

Strategies – Children in Urban Slums

Awareness Building

Family Based Interventions

Linking with Government

Programmes and other Childcare

Services

Building Community

Groups

Empowering Communities, Strengthening

Services

Impact on Children – Urban Slums

Impact – Community Mobilisation

• Reality check on status of ICDS –All projects, Delhi

• 80 anganwadis opened through demand generation from community

• 37 active Delhi FORCES grassroots partners are in place to raise demand for young child

• Study done to assess the need for childcare with 1380 household in 22 slums

• 4 public hearing resulted in improving the quality of nutrition and timings of 30 ICDS centers , sanctioning for 2 Primary Health centre at Madanpur Khadar and solve other local problems

Key Learnings

Elements of a successful ECCE(birth -6years ) Programme

Holistic design - linked to nutrition, health and care Curriculum and Guidelines (context specific and flexible) on Daily Activities Quality norms Teaching and Learning Materials Community engagement Program Operations & Systems Supervision Monitoring Stakeholder Participation Human Resource: - Training for Skills, Knowledge & Attitude - Adequate Remuneration – Value & Dignity Infrastructure Adequate financial resource

Response 3: MC as a Resource

• Perspective and capacity building on ECCE and for operationalising crèches for:

– Government Agencies

– NGOs

– Community Women

To create a pool of trained, informed institutions and professionals

• Creating indigenous training and learning materials

Response 4: Leading Civil Society Movements

Networking with:

•Grassroots organisation

•Rights Groups and Campaigns

•State Networks

•Academia

•Experts

•Practitioners

Also

Steering Committee Member in International Network – ARNEC

Research , documentation and analysis

Situational Analysis, Policy analysis, Inputs into 5 Year Plans

Response 4: Policy Interventions

• Serving on the Government Committees

• Dialogues with the Government agencies (National / Departments, NCPCR)

• Linking with International Agencies (Unicef, UnWomen, ILO)

ECCE Policy and Birth of Alliance

A network of:

•Networks and movements(right to food, right to education, gender rights, health rights, young child’s rights)

•Experts on ECD from Academia

•Practitioners

•Academic Institutions like CECED

•National Law Universities

Objective:

•Right to ECD (H, N, E, C, P) as justiciable rights

•Its seeds in the Right to Education movement of 2002 where under sixes were left out as it was intersectoral, expensive and complex

Policy Gains

Policy•ECCE Policy, 2013 -Drafting Committee Member on first ECCE Policy, 2012

Law•Young Child under National Food Security Act, 2013 – Drafting Rules

Programme

•Restructured ICDS in Mission Mode with AWCC as a component

•Recognised by MWCD as “Resource” for Training and Piloting AWC-cum- crèches

•Curriculum Framework –National and State

•Milestones for 3-6s prepared for measuring learning outcomes

Future plans to scale up demand and provisions

•Framing of draft law (set of laws) on Right to ECD and build a campaign around it

•Capacity building of community, functionaries and management within the Government Programmes for Children under six at the national level and in different states

•Working with academia, experts, practitioners and Rights groups on Right to Education for Under Sixes

MOBILE CRECHES