EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION AS A FEEDER AND    STRENGHTHENING FACTOR FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION.

    “Child is the father of man “said Wordsworth, the vernacular pantheist of the Romantic age. An adult learning from a child and a child learning from an adult is a cyclic continuum. The aim of Early Childhood Care and Education is to achieve two indispensable goals. One is Universalisation of Primary Education. The other inevitable goal is the over-all development of a child for school readiness. Early Childhood Care and Education Centers  (ECCE) must play a key-role in achieving this National Policy of Education envisaged Early Childhood Care and Education. The dictum that ECCE is a feeder and strengthening factor for Primary Education must be the moving spirit behind all the activities of an Early Childhood Care and Education Centre. Hence the rank and file involved in ECCE must look into the following five points to achieve or facilitate the National Policy of Education (NPE) envisaged universalisation of Primary Education.

1.       School Situation.

2.       Teacher Potency.

3.       Teaching Content.

4.       Teaching Methods.

5.       Integrated Association of Activities.

1.          School Situation:

             Any Early Childhood Care and Education Centre at this time of day has

“The dismal situation waste and wild,

A  Dungeon horrible on all sides around. ‘’

      If we give tongue to the limitations of the so called Crèches of Private Nurseries run by the Private money mongers on one hand and social Welfare Department linked agencies of Early Childhood Care and Education on the other hand, the list will be limitless. The fact is open as the day.

     Instead, let us ponder over constructive ideas of what an Early Childhood Care and Education must be. It must be enticing and enlightening. If it is so children will flow willingly to ECCE Centers and try to “pour out their heart in profuse strains of unpremeditated art”. Everywhere we see children crying and shunning the very idea of entering the thresholds of ECCE Centers. An ECCE centre must no more be a Red Rag to a bull. This could be easily achieved if all children are given freedom of movement, freedom of expression, freedom of action and freedom of choice. If there is ample scope for children to experience and learn, an Early Childhood Care and Education Centre will become a paradise regained.

2.        TEACHING POTENCY:

      An ECCE facilitator must be “consecrating with the radiance of her goodness” She must be in every cell and nerve a mother to carry aloft the heart of children entrusted to her care to highest altitudes. She must inspire the children to learn rather than teach them to learn. For we all know that no amount of teaching could impart the quantum of learning as a light flash of inspiration could achieve. Taught students learn what has been taught, whereas inspire pupils explore with unquenchable thirst the unexplored realms of knowledge to learn what has not been taught too. So en Early Childhood Care and Education Instructors must be inspirers, facilitators and above all a fountain head of dynamic resourcefulness. With might and main she must talk her way to the heart of the children rather than teach her way to the mind of them.

3.         ECCE – TEACHING CONTENT:

                   The content of ECCE must be planned in such a way to bring about the following development in the children.

1.          Physical Development.

2.          Motor Development.

3.          Intellectual Development. 

4.          Social Development.

5.          Emotional Development

6.          Aesthetic Development and

7.          Creativity.

            If all these developments are brought about, it stands to reason that an all round development of a child is achieved. While planning the curriculum for ECCE, it is always the best policy to feed the children with what they want and how much they want to eat rather than what we expect them to eat. Enforcing a content which is relished by children again will make ECCE centre horrible on all sides around. The content chosen for implementation in ECCE must be simple, easy, interesting, memorable, positive, joyful and optimistic. Besides it should mainly be within the experience rage of 1 to 3 and 3 to 6 age group. Over and above all these, it should cater to the individual differences, because it is explicit that “Each child is as in nature a tree that has no copy”.

4.       ECCE  - TEACHING METHODS

         The methodology in ECCE must again be the costume and color of the child’s choice rather than the prescribed uniform of the teacher or the centre. If the pupils want a message or material- whatever it is , be it National integration- to be sung the ECCE instructress must sing it; Dramatized, enact it, Painted, draw it. Our aim should be to inculcate the messages indelibly in their minds. The teacher must put on the robe of a songster, dramatist, artist as and when the situation demands. The prime strategy of her teaching methods must be play for play is the child’s work. She must always remember that playing is the medium of learning for small children.

5.       ITEGRATED ASSOCIATION OF ACTIVITIES:

      An integrated association of various activities like coloring, scribbling, painting, drawing, singing, dancing, conversing, making toys with clay, breaking toys, playing with toys, tearing papers, cutting, pasting, making paper models of their choice and so on ( please add to the list ) will make ECCE a thrilling, unforgettable experience for children. It will kindle an urge and earning and enthusiasm in the minds of children for similar experiences. This interesting and balanced blend of all these and many more activities will attract and more and more children to ECCE centers

       The will children will flock the place saying “Mirth with thee I mean to live” For ECCE centers will become to them mirth personified.

         If all these five point are perceived in right perspective and followed in letter and spirit ECCE will undoubtedly take on lea the National Policy of Education envisage National aspiration that is Universalisation of Primary Education. It is a morale booster to know that following the guidelines of NCERT, DTERT has decided to open ECCE Resource Centers in all District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs). These Resource Centers in all the DIETs in turn will work on par with DETERT at District Level to promote Early Childhood Care and Education which will create a demand for Primary Education.  Besides the ECCE cells in DIETs will help promote the pulse point of pre-primary education which is ‘over all development of children and feeder and strengthening factor for primary education.

                                                 S.KANIAMUDH M.A.M.Ed.,

                                                  Retired Headmistress

                                                  5/108. TNHB.

                                                  Kaveripattinam

                                                  Krishnagiri District       

                                                  Pin: 635112.