Early Childhood Care and Education Centre under In-service, Field Interaction and Innovation Co-ordination (IFIC) Branch.

Title of the scheme: Set up of  Early Childhood Care and Education  centre Thadlaskein.

Introduction: The ECCE centre is located within the campus of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) Thadlaskein, West Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya  and is under the supervision of the In-Service , Field Interaction and Innovation co-ordination. (IFIC) Branch. The centre was founded in the year 2007 which   was financially funded by the Central government under Centrally Sponsored scheme.

Strength of Staff and their qualification: There are two teaching staffs with one helper and the qualification of the teachers is Class XII passed with Diploma in Elementary Education whereas the helper is of class VIII standard.

Salary and funding:  The teachers enjoy a salary which is almost equivalent to the SSA teachers of the State which is funded by the central government under the CSS Scheme. They are paid for 10 months only since the inception of the centre  on a contractual basis till 2014. In 2015, all staffs were paid for a full year and hence every year a proposal is to be made by the DIET for retention of the post and continuation of the centre.

Enrolment:

Physical Infrastructure: The building is of Assam type and consists of 5 rooms which are (i) Activity room, (ii) Dining room, (iii) Mini library, (iv) Writing room and (v) Rest room.

Playground: The centre has a small playground in the front of the centre with a mini park where slides, seesaw and swings are kept.

Water facility and toilet:   Water facility was there in the other building but no washing place for the kids is available. Toilet facility is available but not so close to the building. Kids have to walk for  few metres away.

Room Description and lighting facility:  All   room size is of 15 by 12 feet   which are neatly carpeted, well ventilated but no lighting facility. The room description can be elaborated as follows:

• The Writing room:  The writing room comprises of attachable sitting and writing table made of plastic, movable and light in weight. Charts of different information are hung around the classroom which is a little bit too high for the kids. A white board is attached on one side of the wall and in one corner there is a sand tray for writing preparation.
• The Dining room: This room is arranged with child friendly dining furniture with some charts of food and eatables. Kids bring their own Tiffin box and sit around in this room during lunch hour.
• The Mini library: This room contains Bookshelves where story books, number books and health books are kept. Apart from this, moveable furniture for reading like tables and chairs are kept and the room is well ventilated.
• The Activity room:  This room is where children explore their toys, games and doing indoor games. The children were given with play materials and under the guidance and facilitating role of the teacher, they learn how to play and socialize themselves.

The Time table and School Duration: The centre follows a time table which is almost of the primary school level which consists of just number work, writing activity, reading preparation, songs, games and a little language development activities is being given. However, the duration of each period is flexible when it comes to practical. The school follows a timing of 3 hours starting from 9 am till 12.30 pm. It also includes the lunch break and the morning greetings.

Clienteles:  The kids are those coming from the adjacent areas within a distance of 1 km. Most   of the parents are engaged in farming and a handful of them are working in government offices. Some of them have siblings.

Curriculum:  There is a prescribed curriculum in this centre which is followed as per the curriculum of the Certificate course in Early Childhood  care and Education programme. The teachers are doing the activities based on a  the guidance from the lecturers’ in charge which is more aligned to the context of the area..

Apart from this, teachers are taught how to make their children accountable for the cleanliness of their school and surroundings.

Advocacy Meeting for  Parents:

The meeting was held on the  13th and 14th October 2015 at the centre itself. About 15 parents turned out and the programe is as follows:

These are some of the pictures taken during parents’ advocacy meeting.

Outcome of the programme:.

• A model for ECCE centres  during 2007-2009 under SSA:  During  those two years, the trainings of teachers for early childhood care and education under SSA, were undertaken and monitored by the DIET, so this centre has been a hub for Internship programme during their trainings.
• A model for North East Regional Institute of Education (NERIE)  during 2014-2015:  NERIE (NCERT), Umiam, used to visit and assess the centre, during the internship of their students who undergo certificate course in ECCE. For two consecutive years they have been sending their students for visits and carried out their projects in the centre.

Below are some of the photographs taken during their visit.

3. Effects on the clienteles:

In relating to teacher’s training, there was a positive impact on the entire system of management and planning. They have developed a plan which was based on theme teaching and their first theme was on fruits, which are locally available.

Above all, the parents advocacy meeting was the most outstanding one, where majority of parents turned out and took part in giving feedback, discussed the problems encountered by them and their kids relating to the school management.

Feedback and Comments by the parents: After a thorough discussion on the problems faced by the parents, they finally come out with the following comments. That-

• The use of comprehensive evaluation is what they liked and appreciated.
• The availability of progress report made them see their child’s progress in all field.
• The adoption of two language formula at the earliest (Khasi and English) of which English is introduced at the later part of the years, was really helpful to the kids to gauge  themselves with the primary schooling.
• The availability of sufficient space for  every room.
• The acculturation  of reading  habits  for the kid with good reading  materials and facilities.
• The availability of comfortable and secure furniture which are child friendly.
• The maintenance of cleanliness in and around the school.

Monitoring and supervision:   The centre has been monitored and supervised by the two lecturers  under IFIC Branch. This monitoring   that pertains to designing of school activities, evaluation, training of teachers and so on was maneuvered   by the branch throughout the year.

Conclusion:  The centre has been of great help to the parents who are staying around the place, where they can send their children to this centre for preparation of schooling. The DIET, has also made an attempt, to send the teachers for a certificate course in Early childhood care and education in order to enable them to cope and adjust with the changing context of the area.