HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 11: The government of Meghalaya and Sesame Workshop India have announced their partnership for an Early Childhood Development (ECD) project in the state. The objective of this partnership is to provide technical and implementation support to the Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project (MHSSP) to develop, design, and implement an integrated ECD model to improve outcomes as envisaged in the state’s ECD mission.
Sampath Kumar, principal secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Government of Meghalaya commented on the partnership, explaining that the state of Meghalaya is carrying out an Early Childhood Development Mission, which is the first of its kind. He informed me that the main goal of the mission is to maximize the potential of children from conception to eight years of age. “The aim is to convert all Anganwadi Centers into ECD Centers to provide comprehensive support to children. Additionally, there is a significant focus on community-based ECD interventions. The plan is to engage women’s self-help groups formed under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission to promote positive parenting within the community,” added Kumar.
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Ramkumar. S, Secretary to DoH&FW, and Project Director, Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project, Government of Meghalaya, said, “The state of Meghalaya faces a unique challenge due to its very young population and high total fertility rate, requiring a focus on young parents and children for their overall development. He believes that the ECD mission is crucial to the state’s human development.”
Further, aligned with NEP 2020, this initiative will adopt the ‘Whole Child’ approach to develop an activity, and experiential learning-based ECD curriculum keeping in mind the possible health, nutrition, and learning loss due to COVID. The training curriculum for target groups of 0-3 years, 3-6 years, and 6-8 years children and their parents/caregivers will also be aligned with the learning philosophy and outcomes of National ECCE Policy (2013), National Education Policy (2020), National Education Framework (2022) and NIPUN Bharat Guidelines (2021).
Speaking about the partnership, Sonali Khan, managing trustee at Sesame Workshop India Trust, said, “Partnering with the Government of Meghalaya to support early childhood development in the state is a great honor for Sesame Workshop India. Our vast experience in creating educational content and outreach initiatives to engage young children across the country will be leveraged to develop innovative approaches tailored to the unique needs of Meghalaya’s young population. We are committed to working closely with the government to ensure that this initiative has a long-lasting impact on the health, education, and overall well-being of children in the state.”
