The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will prepare curriculum and study materials for pre-school education. File photo
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will prepare curriculum and study materials for pre-school education.
“Pre-school module will be prepared for its introduction from next year,” the Council's director Hrishikesh Senapaty said at a function organised to observe 57th foundation day of the NCERT here on Friday.
The Art and integrated learning department of the Council will soon undertake the exercise, he added.
This comes amid a move to link all Government schools with the Anganwadi centres across the country to run kindergarten classes with the help of Anganwadi workers. In a joint letter recently, The Union ministries of the Human Resource Development (HRD) and the Women and Child Development asked the States to consider “attaching” Anganwadi centres to the primary schools.
A senior official of the NCERT later on the sidelines of the function said that one set of pre-school modules, prepared by the council, was already being used at some of the pre-schools in different parts of the country including Delhi.
“We will prepare a new pre-school module using the experiences gained from the implementation of the module which is being used in some of the schools (as a pilot), the official added.
In a separate event, meanwhile, WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi released a training module titled, 'Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE),' for the Anganwadi workers.
The Union Minister made a prior announcement of the move at a function on Thursday, saying the special training programme was aimed at enabling the Anganwadi workers to become pre-school teachers as well.
“The training module is designed to provide the Anganwadi workers with a basic understanding of the ECCE curriculum and pedagogical approaches to ensure the optimal and holistic development of young children so that they are ready to start formal schooling at the age of six years,” Maneka said releasing the module.
It also includes a component on “psycho-social development of children” below the age of three years, to help Anganwadi workers counsel parents and caregivers “on early stimulation,” she added.
“The ECCE training module is a landmark achievement since the government has for the first time ever prepared norms for Anganwadi workers to impart pre-school education,” the WCD Minister said.
She urged the State Governments to complete the training of Anganwadi workers for ECCE “within a year” so that the new norms can be implemented “at the earliest possible.”
Secretaries of the women and child development department of various States witnessed the launch of the training module through video conferencing.