The reason young
children matter is because international research demonstrates conclusively
that 90% of brain growth occurs by age 5. This means that children’s
environment and the inputs and support they receive in their early years will
have an enormous impact on their future – both in school and beyond.
Children are
enrolled in school but failing to learn even the basics. This crisis may begin
long before children ever enter grade 1.
Credence
Learning Foundation blog has consolidated the findings of IECEI study. The
IECEI Study is a longitudinal study that followed a cohort of 14,000 four-year-olds
from age 4 to age 8 in rural areas of three states of India: Assam, Rajasthan and
Telangana. The first of its kind in India for its scale and its longitudinal,
mixed-methods design.
4 Major findings:
1.
Seven out of every ten sampled 4-year-olds already attend a preschool
programme. With access no longer the main issue, India is well placed to invest
in the quality of early childhood education.
2.
Young children do not follow the linear trajectories that policies
prescribe, or that the education system expects.
3.
Participation in good quality preschools leads to higher school readiness
levels, which in turn lead to better early grade outcomes. But at the time of
school entry at age 5, most children's school readiness levels are far below
expectations.
4.
From `multi-tasked' Anganwadi Centres’ to `demand-driven' private
preschools, the quality of preschool education is not developmentally
appropriate for children.
Challenges in Anganwadi
Centres:
•
Limited infrastructure and learning aids in classrooms.
•
More children in the younger (2-4) age group and fewer
in the 5-6 age group.
•
No schedule is followed.
•
Community worker provided with minimal on-the-job
training.
Challenges in Private Preschools:
•
Better infrastructure, but very few learning aids.
•
High pupil-teacher ratio.
•
Formal teaching with rote memorization and no age-appropriate
activities.
•
Teachers untrained in ECE.
Key policy recommendations:
1.
Include Pre-Primary
education in RTE Act 2009.
2.
Ensure
children begin primary school only when they are developmentally ready.
3.
Design a flexible,
play-based foundational curriculum for 3-8-year-olds along an early learning continuum.
4.
Institute a
regulatory system for early childhood education.
5.
Reach out to parents,
communities, and other stakeholders to generate demand for developmentally
appropriate early childhood education.
Recommendations for teachers:
1.
Adequate education.
2.
Trained in
Early childhood.
3.
Child
friendly and interactive.
Click access UNICEF site:
Note: This blog is an initiative of CLF, which is read across India, US,
UAE, Australia, Europe, and Africa.