SHILLONG, Dec 21: Meghalaya has conceptualised the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Mission, a holistic lifecycle approach targeted at overall development of children — right from the preconception period till the age of eighteen. And according to the Principal Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Sampath Kumar, Meghalaya is probably the only state in India to do so.
Announcing this in a workshop to review the state’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) curriculum, Sampath Kumar said that the ECD Mission was also announced by the chief minister in the previous budget session.
Hosted at Asian Confluence, Laitumkhrah, the workshop addressed the vision for early childhood development in Meghalaya, whole child curriculum and proposed an age-wise curriculum with goals, competence, thematic integration, and group work, all of which is part of Meghalaya’s ECD Mission.
The recommendations made by Sesame Workshop India in consultation with ECCE experts are in the process of being reviewed by representatives of the Social Welfare department, state Education department, ICDS, NCERT along with representatives from departments of Planning, Health, Community & Rural Development and the Meghalaya State Rural Livelihood Society.
Addressing the participants, Sampath Kumar stated that the ECD mission implementation in state requires a collaborative approach from several departments, including the Health & Family Welfare, Social Welfare, Education, C&RD as well as the teachers and parents’ cooperation into materialisation of this mission. He also gave a detailed presentation of the Meghalaya ECD Mission, while highlighting the target of the programme.
He added that since Meghalaya lags behind in most critical health indicators, with a life expectancy rate lower than the national average, the ECD mission, which is an investment in children and the state’s future, will help to improve the overall life expectancy of the state’s future residents.
Applauding the Meghalaya’s vision on ECD Mission, Sonali Khan, Managing Director, Sesame Workshop, India, said, “The very fact that numerous departments participated in the consultative workshop is a big achievement in itself and this collaborative approach is exactly what is needed to implement the ECD Mission in Meghalaya”.
