Fwd: [se-ed] DISCUSSION: Strategies to Increase Focus on Early Childhood Care and Development. Reply by 12 March 2010

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Umesh Chandra Gaur <ccboscm@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 2:11 PM
Subject: Re: [se-ed] DISCUSSION: Strategies to Increase Focus on Early Childhood Care and Development. Reply by 12 March 2010
To: Education Community <se-ed@solutionexchange-un.net.in>

Dear All,

I would like to say that our children is the future our country. So it is vary necessary to give attention towards the children. In my opinion we should give our country's children a good Education system and good Health system not even in cities but in rural areas also.

The big problem is that all Govt. plans have not reached up-to mark. Nationally sponsored schemes are national specific only.

I want to give some examples from Chattisgarh State in our 11th Five Years Plan while the Central Government approved 64000 Anganwadis, the state government opened only 35000 Anganwadis.

Rate of malnutrition is 47% (7% serious malnutrition) among children of 0-3 age group. Health workers in rural areas are not given any incentive. There is a provision for jhulaghar/balwadi in the workplace under NAREGA but these are not provided. The Central government has provided the mother-child help scheme but the state government has not introduced the scheme.

The number of schools, teachers and children in schools has increased, but the quality of the education is poor.

Here I give you only a one state example of our country. In India many others states are facing the same or some more problems.

I would like to recommend some suggestion to improve the situation:

• The State planning boards are to be strengthened in order to make it an effective body to play a proactive role in the implementation of the Plan at the state level.
• There should be focus on basic services such as education, skill development and health services for children.
• The government should provide adequate Anganwadis.
• Measures should be taken to tackle malnutrition and effectively implement mother and child development schemes. Health workers should be given incentives.
• The quality of education provided needs to be improved.
• The amount spent on mid may meals should be increased.
• The Govt. should be work on GDP Plan in which public spending in education to 6% of GDP with at least half this mount being spent on primary and secondary sector. Public spending on health to at least 2-3% on GDP over the next five years with focus on primary health care.
• There shall be a Child Welfare Committee in every district, which shall be constituted by the State Government through a notification in the Official Gazette.

Umesh Gaur

Confederation of Community Based Organizations of India

New Delhi

---

From: Venita Kaul [mailto:vkaul54@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 5:07 PM
To: 'Education Community'
Subject: [se-ed] DISCUSSION: Strategies to Increase Focus on Early ChildhoodCare and Development. Reply by 12 March 2010

Moderator's Note: Dear Members, after a long time, we are happy to initiate a discussion on Early Childhood Care and Education for members' advice. As all of us would agree, this issue is of significance, given the importance of 0-6 years, in a persons' life. The kind of developmental and early learning opportunities as well as nutrition and health inputs a child is able to receive at this age, has a lot of bearing on her future.  

We are happy to announce that Venita Kaul, a known specialist in the area of Early Childhood Care and Development has agreed to be the Guest Moderator for this discussion. Venita Kaul recently retired as Senior Education Specialist from World Bank, India office and has written extensively on the educational and developmental needs of this age group. Even after her retirement from the World Bank, her focus is maintained on ECCD. We are sure members would be forthcoming in sharing their advice and suggestions for better strategization of ECCD in the country.

We look forward to your active participation.  

Shubhangi

---

Dear Members, 

I work for Center for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED), which is located in Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD). CECED's mission is to contribute to the national goals of social justice and equity by advocating for and promoting every child's right to a sound foundation for life, through contextually appropriate and inclusive ECED and to place ECED in the forefront of policy formulation and effective programme implementation.

After a long battle, education has become the fundamental right for children in the age group of 6-14 years. However, the Right to Education Act has left out the very important age group of children below 6 years. The reason given is the fact that 86^th Constitutional Amendment and its Article 21A through which right to education was accepted as a fundamental right, talks about children between the age group of 6-14 only.

Therefore, the Act clearly excludes and thus violates the right of the 0-6 and 14 to 18 year old children. As a Bill flowing out of the Amendment, it is clear that the Bill can not go beyond Article 21A, which makes it imperative that the 86^th amendment must be re-amended to correct this anomaly, and when that happens, the change needs to be reflected in the corresponding Act at that point of time. 

However, this omission has resulted in the exclusion of 17 crore children of 0-6 years age group from their entitlement to education as their fundamental right, which is a major cause of concern, given that this age is now empirically established as the most important and formative stage of a person's life. Given this concern, the issue of inclusion of children below 6 years in the Right to Education bill is being raised in several forums.   

In the context of the above, we invite members to share their views on how they believe this important age group and its entitlements should be catered to.

We wish to hear your advice on the following:

• Should it be a justifiable right for only 3-6 year olds and that also to center based Early Childhood Education? Or should it be a right to a stimulating, healthy and enabling environment for all children, from birth to 6 years no matter where they are located? If it is the latter, what kind of government's commitment and public provisions would define this right operationally?
• If it should be only for 3 to 6 year olds and through a center based provision, what steps would be needed to ensure access to every child, given the wide variations in quality? If it is not conceptualized as institution/center based ECCD, but more holistically, what would be the monitoring mechanisms to ensure that every child's right to sound ECCE is fulfilled?
• Should there be a separate act for the right to education and development of 0-6 age group? Or should it be part of the Right to Education Act, given that the nodal Ministries for the two are different (for elementary education it is the Ministry of Human Resource Development and for ECCE it is the Ministry of Women and Child Development

Your inputs and advice will strengthen the advocacy and efforts of diverse sets of people in the area of ECCD and would also give us a clear direction to design our own activities and efforts as a Centre dedicated to early childhood care and development

Regards,

Venita Kaul

Center for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED)

Ambedkar University,

Delhi

--
Ch.Santakar
Pujariput
Koraput-764020
Orissa
Mob:09437192553
e-mail:santakar@gmail.com
web:www.koraputonline.com