Early Childhood Education:
The early childhood stage, until the age of 6–8 years, is
the most critical period when the foundations are laid
for life-long development and the realisation of full
potential; research shows that there are 'critical periods'
at this stage for full development of the brain's potential.
The formation of later attitudes and values as well as
the desire to learn are also influenced at this stage, while
lack of support or neglect can lead to negative
consequences, sometimes irreversible. Early Childhood
Care and Education (ECCE) requires that young children
be provided care, opportunities and experiences that
lead to their all-round development — physical, mental,
social and emotional, and school readiness. A holistic
and integrated perspective views the health and nutritional
needs of children as integrally related with their
psychosocial/educational development. The curriculum
framework and pedagogy for ECCE must be based
on this holistic perspective, taking into account the various
domains of development, the characteristics of children
at each sub-stage, and their learning needs in terms of
experiences.
It is well known that children have a natural desire
to learn and make sense of the world around them.Learning in the early years must hence be directed by
the child's interests and priorities, and should be
contextualised by her experiences rather than being
structured formally. An enabling environment for
children would be one that is rich in stimulation and
experiences, that allows children to explore, experiment
and freely express themselves, and one that is embedded
in social relations that give them a sense of warmth,
security and trust. Playing, music, rhyming, art and other
activities using local materials, along with opportunities
for speaking, listening and expressing themselves, and
informal interaction are essential components of
learning at this stage. It is important that the language
used in early education is one that the child is familiar
with in the immediate environment, while an informal
multilingual classroom would help children to
comfortably adjust to the early introduction of a second
language (English) and the medium of instruction from
Class I onwards. As the children who come under the
purview of ECCE are a heterogeneous group, ranging
from infants to pre-schoolers, it is important that
activities and experiences for them are developmentally
appropriate.
Early identification of disabilities assessment and
the provision of appropriate stimulation would go a
long way in preventing the aggravation of disadvantage
on this account. The caution would be against
pressurising children into the three R's (reading, writing
and arithmetic) and the early introduction of formal
instruction, i.e. against making pre-schools into training
centres for admission to primary schools. In fact, the
suggestion is that ECCE cover the age group 0–8 years
(i.e. so as to include the early primary school years).
This is in order that the holistic perspective of ECCE
and its methodologies (all- round and integrated
development, activity-based learning, listening and
speaking a language before learning to write it,
contextuality and continuity between home and school)
can inform learning experiences of children throughout
the childhood stage and lead to a smooth transition
into the elementary school stage.
The ECCE programmes present a picture of
plurality, with g overnment, non-government
(voluntary sector) and private agencies providing a
variety of services. However, the coverage of these
programmes is extremely narrow, and the quality
of services provided is variable and largely poor.
A vast majority of children, especially those belonging
to poor and marginal groups, are not covered by
early care programmes and are left to fend for
themselves. Pre-school programmes range from
those that subject children to a dull and monotonous
routine to those where children are exposed to
structured formal learning, often in English, made
to do tests and homework, and denied their right to
play. These are undesirable and harmful practices
that result from misguided parental aspirations and
the growing commercialisation of pre-schooling,
and are detrimental to children's development and
motivation to learn. Most of these problems derive
from the still 'unrecognised' status of ECCE as a
part of the mainstream education system. Polarised
services both reflect and perpetuate the multiple
overlapping social divides in our country. The deep
gender bias and pervasive patriarchal values in Indian
society are responsible for the failure to recognise
the need for cre'ches and day-care facilities, especially
for children of poor rural and urban working
women; this neglect has also had an adverse impact
on the education of girls.
Good quality ECCE programmes have a positive
impact on children's all-round development. This in itself
is reason enough to demand that all children have a right
to ECCE, and it is hence unfortunate that the 0–6 age group has been excluded from the purview of Article
21. In addition, ECCE is also seen to have critical linkages
with enrolment of children in schools and learning
outcomes. To provide ECCE of equitable quality to all
children, it is not only necessary to vastly enhance the
funds committed for this purpose, but also to address
through different strategies the five basic dimensions of
quality, namely, developmentally appropriate curriculum,
trained and adequately rewarded teachers, appropriate
teacher-child ratio and group size, infrastructure
supportive of children's needs, and an encouraging style
of supervision. While there is need for decentralisation,
flexibility and contextuality in these programmes, there
is also an urgent need to evolve appropriate norms and
guidelines and set in place a regulatory framework so
that children's development is not compromised.
Capacity building at all levels in relation to the plurality
of roles that different functionaries play, as well as fair
wages, must also be ensured.
