India is steadfast in its commitment to offer every child equal access to quality learning opportunities. The Ministry of Women & Child Development also recognizes the pivotal role of early years in development and seeks to strengthen India's Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) landscape. Guided by the National Education Policy 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage 2022, the "Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi" initiative was launched On May 10th, 2023, under the Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0 umbrella to enhance early learning through the Anganwadi system, for children from birth to 6 years.
To empower the dedicated Anganwadi workers and ensure optimal learning for all children, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched the “Navchetna- National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation for Children from Birth to Three Years, 2024” and “Aadharshila- National Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education for Children from Three to Six Years 2024”.
Navchetana aims to help children from birth to three years develop holistically, based on the principles of serve and return, caregivers’ three acts: love, talk, play, and positive guidance. Special focus has been given for the screening, inclusion and referrals of Divyang children. The Framework provides a stepping stone for children for their long term development, aiming to ensure that all children start their learning journeys on an equal footing. It aims to empower Anganwadi functionaries with greater knowledge and capabilities for early childhood stimulation.
Aadharshila is driven by the pressing need for a contextual curriculum that specifically offers Anganwadi educators a guide grounded in Indian and international ECCE research. It aims to improve the quality of early childhood education transacted at the Anganwadi Centre, by prioritising competency-based lesson plans and almost 150 activities, covering all learning domains. Special focus has been given for the screening, inclusion and referrals of Divyang children in every activity.
A two-tier training model is being implemented through the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), with 3 days of training for Anganwadi workers covering curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment tools, emphasizing play-based, activity-based learning. Monthly ECCE days and DIY toy workshops are also being deployed for community engagement. Capacity-building under PBPB will help facilitate implementation of Aadharshila and Navchetana at the Anganwadi Centre level.
The "Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi" program aims to promote comprehensive and high-quality early stimulation and pre-primary education for children. It emphasizes the use of age-appropriate teaching methods and stresses the connections between early childhood education, health, and nutrition services, along with primary education. The program also advocates for using the mother tongue as the primary medium of instruction for teachers, providing various teaching aids such as visual, audio, audio-visual materials to Anganwadi workers.
Navchetna is meant to empower caregivers at home, Anganwadi Workers and creche workers for holistic early stimulation, through responsive caregiving and opportunities for early learning, for optimal development of children, both body and brain. The framework provides detailed information on the importance of brain development in the first three years, and step by step instructions for caregivers and frontline workers on conducting early stimulation activities. It also focuses especially on the screening, inclusion and referrals of children with disabilities.
The framework is designed to serve as a guide for engagement inside the home as well as at Anganwadi Centres or creches, The framework lays out the ways in which the AWW or Creche Worker can use it: first, in conducting stimulation activities to support a child's growth and development in the first three years of life, and second, in monitoring children's development and provide counseling to parents.
Only 25% of the brain is formed at birth, while 75% develops in the first three years of a child's life during early childhood development (ECD). At this age, a baby's brain is twice as active as an adult's, enabling it to establish essential patterns of thinking and responding. New synaptic connections (synapses help a child develop vital sensory capacities) develop in response to stimulation, forming the bedrock of a child's development across different domains in the first three years of life. Providing a child with stimulation therefore ensures that they grow to their fullest in different developmental domains.
Play materials are important because they enable sensory stimulation and play-based learning for infants and toddlers. An environment in which children have access to diverse kinds of play material ensures that they are receiving diverse stimulus that can help them develop learn and develop various skills. Play materials can be of many kinds:
a. Household items: Objects and materials found readily in the home or natural environment such as spoons, cups, plates, clothing items, leaves, sticks, etc.
b. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) toys: Shakers, dolls, toys made using household or waste material such as cups, bottles, and leftover pieces of fabric.
c. Indigenous toys that are culturally embedded are helpful in promoting cultural awareness.
The stimulation activity calendar is designed in a monthly format starting from pregnancy to three years. Each month has 4 recommended activities that are developmentally appropriate, covering 4 key domains of development - Language development, Cognitive development, Social-emotional development and Motor and Physical development. Parents and caregivers can therefore use the activity calendar in the following manner for the child’s stimulation.
Step 1: Identify the child’s age and find the related page in the activity calendar.
Step 2: Read and understand the activities listed on the page
Step 3: Conduct the activities with their child at home
Step 4: Repeat this with care throughout the month enabling the child to reach their development milestones.
Step 5: Observe the child, modify and adjust the activities according to the materials available and to suit the child’s abilities and interests.
Along with parents, family members such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, and siblings play the most crucial role in the child’s care and development. It is their responsibility to create an environment of care, safety and security in which the child can learn and grow without any hindrances. In situations where several family members live together in one home or near each other, extended family members can support in myriad ways, such as taking up household chores typically performed by the parent, especially in the months following childbirth, having positive and playful interactions with the child and facilitating everyday childcare tasks when required. This kind of support improves a child’s chances of success by fostering several different wonderful relationships; it also eases the stress experienced by the parents, enabling them to provide better childcare.
To measure development in the first three years of a child's life, the framework outlines key milestones across four critical domains: cognitive, language, physical and motor, and social and emotional skills. This framework provides age-specific common benchmarks that aid in determining a child's optimal progress and their abilities at different stages till the age of three years. Examples of such milestones include recognising faces, babbling, crawling, and responding to social cues, guiding caregivers and professionals in tracking developmental progress.
Children naturally progress at varying rates, and while not all will hit these milestones uniformly, significant deviations can highlight potential developmental delays. Knowledge of these milestones is particularly crucial for identifying children with developmental disabilities who may show delays in areas like gross motor skills (e.g., walking or running), fine motor skills (e.g., grasping small objects), or language skills (e.g., building vocabulary). Early recognition of these gaps allows for timely intervention and support to help mitigate the impact of such delays.
Aadharshila is a meticulously detailed, view and do guidebook designed for Anganwadi Workers to conduct meaningful, play-based, age appropriate activities with children at center and promote their holistic development and learning. Aligned with NCF-FS the curriculum has an annual plan with recommended activities for each day and week of the academic cycle.
The curriculum puts out weekly schedules for the entire academic cycle and is divided into 4 + 36 + 8 weeks, that is, 4 weeks of Initiation and Induction, followed by 36 weeks of Active play-based learning, interspersed with 8 weeks of Recap and Reinforcement (4 weeks of recap are recommended after 18 weeks of active learning). Each day and week with its mindfully detailed activities aligned to learning outcomes, suggests exactly when and how new learnings can be introduced, spiraled and reinforced to take each child over a fun, play-based learning journey, supporting holistic development.
Ground breaking research in neuroscience reveals that the brain undergoes rapid and crucial development during the early years of life. The first eight years of life mark a critical period for brain development where neural connections either strengthen or prune based on environmental experiences. A nurturing and stimulating environment during this phase is paramount for holistic child development and the formation of neural connections during this period and significantly influences cognitive, emotional and social development.
Play being intrinsic to children is a natural and dynamic activity for them, evident in their constant engagement with the environment, whether it is on the playground, at home, market or any other place. In the early years, play serves as the primary avenue for learning as allows children to express their ideas and emotions.Additionally, it plays a crucial role in building social relationships and instilling healthy habits in children. The multifaceted benefits of play contribute significantly to the holistic development of a child and serve as an effective medium for Early Childhood Education ensuring that knowledge acquired through play becomes a lasting part of the child's experience.
Play is instrumental in developing a child’s five senses as involves the use of senses and limbs resulting in the strengthening of muscles. Through play children actively participate in the “Learning by Doing” process gaining concrete learning experiences. It provides a balanced and process-oriented program that aligns with developmental objectives, fostering learning processes such as observation, experimentation, problem - solving, and creativity.
| Name | Landline | |
|---|---|---|
| Ms. Jyotika, Deputy Secretary | jyotika[dot]irs[at]gov[dot]in | 011-23070494 |
