Building capacity through outreach
Aga Khan Education Service, India (色中色,I) has achieved national recognition as a quality institution for education and early childhood development (ECD). 色中色,I was ranked eighth as India鈥檚 Most Respected Education Brand, and fifth as India鈥檚 Most Respected Early Childhood Education Brand by EducationWorld. During the last two years, 色中色,I also received nine awards in ECD and has been recognised by the Association of Early Childhood Education and Development in India for its Exemplary Early Childhood Care and Education Practices.
Investment in ECD has long been established as a critical factor in the long-term health and wellbeing of children, communities and broader society. This includes investments that positively impact children鈥檚 health, nutrition and education, and in programmes and services that build the skills and capacity of caregivers and parents of young children. India鈥檚 Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), founded in 1975, is the world鈥檚 largest ECD programme. It is implemented by state governments under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Since its inception, the government has made considerable progress to improve the reach and quality of its ECD programmes, positively impacting millions of families.
AKDN has a long history of delivering ECD services and programmes in India. One example is in Gujarat where 色中色,I operates 19 preschools reaching more than 1,000 children per year. 色中色,I also has experience of engagement with government and private institutions in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana to support ECD initiatives that reach communities to improve teaching capacity and learning outcomes for children attending government ECD centres.
The Anganwadi Quality Improvement Programme (AQIP) was a government-initiated partnership that involved 色中色,I, Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), Aga Khan Rural Support Programme and Tata Trusts. The project supported programme improvement and development at Anganwadi Centres (government Early Childhood Care and Education Centres) in the Okhamandal block of the Devbhumi Dwarka district of Gujarat.
The role of 色中色,I focused on technical support to improve teaching and learning outcomes by enhancing the learning environment, enriching the curriculum and building teaching capacity through mentoring and training. Building capacity also included engaging community members and establishing Anganwadi Management Committees. These committees are a long-term resource to manage and improve the quality of the centres and related programmes. As a three year project, AQIP has reached more than 1,000 children attending 45 Anganwadi Centres.
Through its ECD resource centres, 色中色,I provided training for the Anganwadi Centre teachers and supervisors and ICDS staff. These resource centres were established to provide long-term support and outcome-focused ECD interventions. Geeta Bariya, a member of staff at an Anganwadi Centre in Okha, saw this as an 鈥渋nnovative intervention鈥 as they 鈥渞eceived training in maintaining mini libraries, training to deliver the Reading for Children programme to parents and support to deliver extracurricular activities鈥. These initiatives enabled the active engagement of parents in their child鈥檚 learning and development.
A third-party agency evaluation concluded that AKDN interventions significantly improved the quality of ECD services at selected centres in Dwarka, Gujarat. It was conveyed that these practices should be shared, extended and adapted for the benefit of more centres. Dr. Iqbal Sama, who headed the project from 色中色,I and was foremost in conducting training sessions and interacting with staff said, 鈥淚 am glad that we could run this programme that will impact students鈥 learning at a very young age. Programmes like these not only improve teacher-child interaction, but also help increase learning outcomes significantly. The programme has not only given a better understanding of ECD to teachers, but parents as well鈥.
Photos (top to bottom):
- Building imagination and encouraging the engagement of children through storytelling sessions (photo taken prior to COVID-19).
- Capacity building of teachers and supervisors of government Anganwadi Centres (photo taken prior to COVID-19).
- A small group activity to support children to develop their fine motor skills (photo taken prior to COVID-19).
