Pune: The state education department will develop a separate curriculum for students studying in the one lakh anganwadis in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) will develop the curriculum to help students step up to the primary section smoothly.
At present, in more than 43,000 anganwadis in the state, the focus is only on midday meals and vaccination of the children while academically, they take a backseat.
The state has more than 550 ICDS projects with a workforce comprising over 4,000 supervisors and around 2 lakh anganwadi workers/helpers who drive the entire ICDS machinery starting from grassroots.
Anganwadis are the focal point for implementation of all the health, nutrition and early learning initiatives under ICDS.
The education department has decided to merge the academic part of anganwadis with a primary section of the education department to prepare the students for schooling.
State project director of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Kailash Pagare, said, “The children of anganwadis will get exposure to education at an early age. It will build their foundation of education with knowledge as well as literacy and numeracy.”
According to National Education Policy 2020, early childhood education should be delivered through an expanded and strengthened system to standalone, co-located with primary schools, pre-primary schools and sections covering at least ages 5 to 6 years and standalone pre-schools.
The NEP has also stated that all these sections should recruit workers/teachers specially trained in the curriculum and pedagogy of ECE.
Pagare added that children in anganwadi centres shall take activity-filled tours and meet the teachers and students of their local primary schools, in order to make the transition from anganwadi centres to primary schools a smooth one.
Anganwadi workers will be trained and primary school teachers will also teach children from the children. A separate course will be prepared for them by the SCERT with references from NCERT.
Retired teacher Shashikant Kadam said a uniform curriculum should be developed for these students. “Basic guidelines for developing motor skills are not available from the government. The identification of age-wise skill development up to five years is necessary and the workforce needs to be trained accordingly,” he added.
Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) will develop the curriculum to help students step up to the primary section smoothly.
At present, in more than 43,000 anganwadis in the state, the focus is only on midday meals and vaccination of the children while academically, they take a backseat.
The state has more than 550 ICDS projects with a workforce comprising over 4,000 supervisors and around 2 lakh anganwadi workers/helpers who drive the entire ICDS machinery starting from grassroots.
Anganwadis are the focal point for implementation of all the health, nutrition and early learning initiatives under ICDS.
The education department has decided to merge the academic part of anganwadis with a primary section of the education department to prepare the students for schooling.
State project director of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Kailash Pagare, said, “The children of anganwadis will get exposure to education at an early age. It will build their foundation of education with knowledge as well as literacy and numeracy.”
According to National Education Policy 2020, early childhood education should be delivered through an expanded and strengthened system to standalone, co-located with primary schools, pre-primary schools and sections covering at least ages 5 to 6 years and standalone pre-schools.
The NEP has also stated that all these sections should recruit workers/teachers specially trained in the curriculum and pedagogy of ECE.
Pagare added that children in anganwadi centres shall take activity-filled tours and meet the teachers and students of their local primary schools, in order to make the transition from anganwadi centres to primary schools a smooth one.
Anganwadi workers will be trained and primary school teachers will also teach children from the children. A separate course will be prepared for them by the SCERT with references from NCERT.
Retired teacher Shashikant Kadam said a uniform curriculum should be developed for these students. “Basic guidelines for developing motor skills are not available from the government. The identification of age-wise skill development up to five years is necessary and the workforce needs to be trained accordingly,” he added.