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ATIONAL FOCUS GROUP ON EARLY CHILDHOOD

POSITION PAPERNATIONAL FOCUS GROUPONEARLY EditionSeptember 2006 Asvina 1928PD 5T BB National Council of EducationalResearch and Training, 2006 Printed on 80 GSM paper with NCERT watermarkPublished at the Publication Departmentby the Secretary, National Council ofEducational Research and Training,Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016and printed at Bengal Offset Works335 Khajoor Road, Karol BaghNew Delhi 110005 ISBN 81-7450-608-XALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or trans-mitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recordingor otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher s consent, in any formof binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Section I A Global Perspective on Early Childhood Section II The Indian Context: Situational Analysis and Current Scenario Section III Critical Issues, Social Realities, and Policy Implications

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Transcription of ATIONAL FOCUS GROUP ON EARLY CHILDHOOD

1 POSITION PAPERNATIONAL FOCUS GROUPONEARLY EditionSeptember 2006 Asvina 1928PD 5T BB National Council of EducationalResearch and Training, 2006 Printed on 80 GSM paper with NCERT watermarkPublished at the Publication Departmentby the Secretary, National Council ofEducational Research and Training,Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016and printed at Bengal Offset Works335 Khajoor Road, Karol BaghNew Delhi 110005 ISBN 81-7450-608-XALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or trans-mitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recordingor otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher s consent, in any formof binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

2 The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page, Any revisedprice indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any other means is incorrectand should be OF THE PUBLICATION DEPARTMENT, NCERTNCERT CampusSri Aurobindo MargNew Delhi 110 016108, 100 Feet RoadHosdakere Halli ExtensionBanashankari III StageBangalore 560 085 Navjivan Trust 380 014 CWC CampusOpp. Dhankal Bus StopPanihatiKolkata 700 114 CWC ComplexMaligaonGuwahati 781 021 Publication TeamHead, Publication:P. RajakumarDepartmentChief Production:Shiv KumarOfficerChief Editor:Shveta UppalChief Business:Gautam GangulyManagerAssistant Editor:Bijnan SutarProduction Officer:Arun ChitkaraCover and LayoutShweta RaoPREAMBLEThe members of the National FOCUS GROUP on ECE unequivocally agreed to name the National FocusGroup on ECCE instead of ECE.

3 In the context of the work of the National FOCUS GROUP , therationale for replacing ECE by ECCE is as follows: EARLY CHILDHOOD is the period from conception to age 8, a period that presents a developmentalcontinuum, according to the theoretical framework of developmental psychology and learning other reason for extending the span of EARLY CHILDHOOD from 6 to 8 years is to ensure a gradual andsmooth transition from preprimary to primary education, which is a structured and formal learningsystem requiring effective interface. The term Care has been added in recognition of the fact thatyoung children need care and nurturing. In addition to their health and nutritional needs, their psychosocialand emotional needs also have to be met adequately for their holistic development.

4 The term Educationcovers learning, a process of acquiring knowledge, skills, habits, attitudes, etc. It also indicates an importantfocus, viz., to prepare the young child to enter the formal educational , the term ECCE refers to a philosophy of providing opportunities/experiences to youngchildren up to 8 years of age in order to promote their holistic development, as well as arranging andproviding services and support systems to communities and families to meet the needs of their youngchildren. For the sake of convenience, and for purposes of programming and institutional location,ECCE can be divided into three substages: birth to 2+, 3 to 5+, and 6 to 8+. Each substage can belocated in a different institutional I emphasises the significance of the first few years of life for human development withevidence drawn from recent researches.

5 It places India in a global context and perspective and definesthe nature of EARLY CHILDHOOD Development (ECD) programmes that have the maximum Section II presents a situational analysis of ECCE in India, tracing briefly the history of its evolutionto the present position. It examines the policy framework, access and coverage, the various models,the quantitative picture and the gaps, and offers a critical appraisal of the current Section III attempts an analytical review of the interlinked critical issues in relation to the existingsocial realities and systems based on a qualitative overview of the situation, and draws out thepolicy and programmatic implications for ensuring quality ECCE for all, and resolving Section IV takes a hard look at the basic policy shifts required to move ahead and spells out theactions that need to be taken in each case.

6 Without such an outline for a blueprint, the policystatement will remain another empty promise on Assuming that a curricular framework cannot be equitably implemented in the absence of acommitment to such major steps, the guidelines for a new curricular framework based on theprinciples of child development have been placed in Section SUMMARYS ection IA Global Perspective on EARLY ChildhoodSection IIThe Indian Context: situational analysis and Current ScenarioSection III Critical Issues, Social Realities, and Policy ImplicationsSection IV Moving Ahead: Changing Policy ParadigmsSection VGuidelines for a Curricular FrameworkI. A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON EARLY CHILDHOODThe first 6 to 8 years of a child s life are globally acknowledged to be the most critical years for lifelongdevelopment since the pace of development in these years is extremely rapid.

7 Recent research in thefield of neuroscience, particularly on the brain, has provided convincing evidence of the critical periods located within these EARLY years for the forming of synaptic connections in the brain and for the fulldevelopment of the brain s potential. Research has also indicated that if these EARLY years are not supportedby, or embedded in, a stimulating and enriching physical and psychosocial environment, the chances ofthe child s brain developing to its full potential are considerably, and often irreversibly, reduced. Thisstage in life is also important as a foundation for the inculcation of social values and personal habits,which are known to last a lifetime. What follows logically is the crucial importance of investing in theseearly years to ensure an enabling environment for every child, and thereby a sound foundation for life,which is not only the right of every child but which will also impact, in the long term, the quality ofhuman capital available to a country.

8 EARLY CHILDHOOD Care and Education (ECCE) derives its importancefrom this events and the needs emerging from various social, economic, and demographic changes inthe last few decades have also influenced ECCE in India. Five of the eight Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) in the UN Millennium Declaration relate to the health, nutrition, and education of theyoung child. India s poor progress towards the realisation of MDGs in relation to other developingcountries indicates that we have already neglected our young children for too longResearch around the world has shown that in order to maximise impact, the planning and provisionof EARLY CHILDHOOD and primary education programmes need to take into account three importantprinciples of child development:(a) Child development is a continuous and cumulative process, so that what precedes influences whatfollows.

9 Therefore, in terms of programmatic interventions, it is important to address the entirechildhood continuum, from the prenatal stage to the end of the primary stage, as opposed tointervening during any one substage exclusively;(b) Health, nutrition, and educational/psychosocial development are all synergistically interrelated, whichmakes a case for the importance of addressing all the needs of children through a holistic approach; andv(c) The child s development will be optimised if the programmes address not only the child but alsothe child s overall THE INDIAN CONTEXT: situational analysis AND APPRAISALThe situational analysis of the current scenario includes an overview of the relevant constitutionalprovisions, the policies and legal provisions relating to children developed over the years, the evolutionof the planning process, the various programmatic interventions, the responsibilities of various ministries,and a broad quantitative assessment of the present concluding critical appraisal notes that the public sector covers only 22 per cent of children inthe age GROUP 0 6 years.

10 There are no figures available for the private sector, which is estimated to bepossibly as large as the public sector. The small NGO sector, for which also there are no accuratefigures available, offers a variety of 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002, which effectively releases the State from its obligationto provide care and education for children below 6 years, is noted as a negative report cites a fragmented approach and divided responsibilities as some of the main reasonsfor this grim situation. It concludes that ECCE must be brought firmly within the framework of EFAand UEE, with responsibility and accountability for all programmes for children above 3 years lyingwith DEE & L, while programmes for children below 3 years will be the responsibility of CRITICAL ISSUES, SOCIAL REALITIES, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONSThe report offers an analysis of critical issues and social realities, and also points out the policy argues that most of the problems derive from the still unrecognised status of ECCE as a part ofthe mainstream education?


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