In tribal areas, ECCE will be
implemented in ?
Answers
Answer:
India has a significant child population, with 158 million children between the ages of 0-6 years. The Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), India’s flagship child welfare programme, which includes the provision of early childhood care and education (ECCE), reaches 48% of children of pre-school age. Despite the growth of private and non-government ECCE providers, 20% of children between 3-5 years are not enrolled in formal centres.
Access to quality ECCE varies according to region, caste, ethnicity, religion and economic backgrounds (CBPS 2018). Issues of inadequate infrastructure and space, financing and the regulation of the sector have been identified as particular concerns (Rao & Kaul 2017, CPBS 2018). Despite a policy emphasis on Developmentally Appropriate Practice, the quality of education in ECCE settings also remain a key issue, and many practitioners and teachers are without adequate training in early years learning approaches.
Despite significant research and advocacy for ECCE at global and national levels, policy debates on improving the quality of provision often overlook the fact that notions of ‘quality’ ECCE are largely grounded in models and practices of childcare and education that have been developed outside of local communities. How can institutional forms of ECCE be more responsive to the communities they serve? Our project seeks to bring this question to policy debates on improving the quality of ECCE in India.