Activity-based curriculum drawn up for anganwadis
NEP-based framework document says learning begins at birth; sta‹ in 14 lakh anganwadis to be trained and parents encouraged to engage toddlers in activities to reach key milestones
Achild’s learning begins at month zero, emphasises the National Framework of Early Childhood Stimulation, 2024, which lays down month-by-month activities to be conducted by parents, anganwadi sta and ASHA workers for children from birth to the age of three.
The framework document has been nalised by an internal committee comprising representatives from the Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare and Education, the Department of School Education and Literacy, the National Council of Educational Research and Training, the Institute of Home Economics, the University of Delhi and civil society organisations.
Continuous learning
Titled ‘Navchetana’, the activity-based curriculum follows the National Education Policy, 2020 that calls for a continuum of learning. Sta in 14 lakh anganwadis will be given training in the curriculum.
The curriculum involves talking, playing, moving, listening to music and sounds, and stimulation of all the senses — particularly sight and touch in order to reach developmental milestones across domains, and develop “early language, and emergent literacy and numeracy”.
As much as 75% of the brain develops in the rst three years of a child’s life, says Namya Mahajan, a member of the internal committee and founder of Rocket Learning. The national framework provides detailed information on the importance of brain development in the rst three years, and step by step instructions for caregivers and frontline workers on conducting early stimulation activities, she said.
This involves getting the child’s attention, communicating with and responding to the child, introducing age and skill appropriate activities for play, and following the child’s lead during the activities.
It also involves helping the child with a new task, and praising the child for her eorts.
The document entails 36 sets of activities for children from months 0 to 36. It encourages the use of household objects such as cups, bottles or leftover pieces of fabric. Activities involve reaching for objects, imitating sounds, spinning bangles, putting objects in and out of a jar and removing knots in a handkerchief in the rst year.
Step by step
After a year, the activities include encouraging children to feed themselves and explore the house, involving them in the kitchen, playing with dough and introducing them to a mirror.
At the age of 18 months, children are encouraged to scribble with a crayon and at 24 months, the recommended activities include shoe sorting and matching. By the age of three, children are introduced to a cycle, asked to say their names and identify colours.
The framework says the activities will help identify children with developmental delays. In such a situation, the anganwadi worker or parent can adapt by picking up activities recommended for children a few months younger.
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Around 150 baby products manufactured by the global food and beverage giant and sold in dierent countries were tested in a Belgian laboratory, according to IBFAN.
It was found that all 15 Cerelac products for sixmonth-old babies, which are sold without any added sugars in the United Kingdom and Germany, contained 2.7 grams of added sugar per serving in India. Products sold in Ethiopia and Thailand contained nearly 6 grams, the report said.