The following slides discusses about the draft National Education Policy (2019) of India laying special on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).

1. Draft National Education Policy
2019
Early Childhood Care and Education
Presented by: KUNAL SHARMA
EDM 18001

2. Vision
The National Education Policy 2019 envisions
an India centred education system that
contributes directly to transforming our
nation sustainably into an equitable and
vibrant knowledge society, by providing high
quality education to all.

3. Introduction to the Draft
• The last NEP was released in 1986, modified in 1992
(POA).
• Since then significant changes have been observed in
the world and in our country, eg: Internet Revolution
• The education policy needs to be modified as per the
current scenario.
• In order to make changes and implement new policy,
a committee was set up (June 2017) to prepare a
draft of a new National Education Policy.
• NEP must be relevant and applicable for at least two
decades.
• Chairman : Dr. K Kasturirangan

4. Few Salient Features of Draft NEP 2019
• ‘Learn how to learn’ and become lifelong learners.
• The Policy is built on the foundational pillars of
– Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability.
• Free and compulsory education from pre-school to 12th
• Schools to be re-organized into school complexes.
• No hard separation of learning areas in terms of curricular,
co-curricular or extracurricular areas.
• National Research Foundation, proposed for creating
strong research culture and building research capacity
across HE.
• National Higher Education Regulatory Authority as the
only regulator for all higher education including
professional education.

5. Rationale for the ECCE from National ECCE
Policy 2013
• The first six years of life are critical years of human
life.
• Rate of development in these years is more rapid
than at any other stage of development.
• About 90% of brain development has already taken
place by the time a child is six years of age.
• (ECCE) encompass the inseparable elements of
– care, health, nutrition, play and early learning within a
protective and enabling environment.
• Indispensable foundation for lifelong development
and learning.
• Has lasting impact on early childhood development.

6. Trajectory of Development (Source: UNICEF, 2009)

7. Part I – School Education
Chapter 1. Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE)

8. Policy Overview - Key Points on
ECCE
•The Policy emphasizes the criticality of the early
years
•Aims to ensure quality early childhood care and
education for all children between 3-6 years by
2025
•Significantly increased investment and new
initiatives

9. Objective
Every child in the age range of 3-6 years
has access to free, safe, high quality,
developmentally appropriate care and
education by 2025.

10. Introduction
• The learning process for a child commences immediately at
birth.
• Care, nutrition, physical activity, psycho-social environment,
cognitive and emotional stimulation during a child’s first six
years are considered extremely critical for proper brain
development and desired learning curves over a person’s
lifetime.
• Quality pre-school education is strongly correlated with
higher incomes and rates of home ownership, and lower
rates of unemployment, crime, and arrest.
• Development of a strong ECCE program is among the very
best investments that India could make, with an expected
return of `10 or more for every `1 invested.

11. Introduction
• Severe learning crisis in India:
– Children who start out behind tend to stay behind
throughout their school years.
– Lack of foundational literacy and numeracy skills.
• Deficiency in school-preparedness:
– Between advantaged and disadvantaged groups.
– Access to role models, print awareness, language
fluency, learning environments at home, better
nutrition, healthcare, pre-school education.

12. Components of Quality ECCE
• Birth to 3 years:
– Health and nutrition of both the mother and the child.
– Cognitive and emotional stimulation of infant (talking,
playing, moving, listening to music and sounds, and
stimulating all the other senses).
• 3 to 6 years:
– Continued healthcare and nutrition.
– Self-help skills, motor skills, cleanliness, the handling of
separation anxiety, being comfortable around one’s peers,
moral development, physical development, expressing and
communicating thoughts and feelings to parents and
others.

13. Foundational Stage
• A single pedagogical:
– Three years of pre-school (ages 3-6)
– End of Grade 2 (age 8)
• Children of ages 3-8 have access to:
– Flexible,
– Multifaceted,
– Multilevel,
– Play-based,
– Activity-based, and
– Discovery-based education

14. 1.1 Curricular and Pedagogical Framework
for Early Childhood Education
• Mandate of the NCERT to be expanded:
– Include development of a Curricular and Pedagogical
Framework for ECCE.
• First part:
– Framework of guidelines for 0-3 year olds.
– Intended for parents as well as Anganwadi teachers/workers.
• Second part:
– Educational framework for 3-8 year olds (foundational stage).
– Intended for parents as well as for Anganwadis, pre-primary
schools, and grades 1 and 2.
– Consisting of a flexible, multilevel, play-based, activity-based,
and discovery-based system of learning.

15. 1.2 Significant Expansion and Strengthening
of Facilities for Early Childhood Education
• To be implemented in accordance with local needs and
feasibility of geography and infrastructure:
– Strengthening and expansion of the Anganwadi system to
include a robust education component.
– Co-locating Anganwadis with primary schools.
– Co-locating pre-schools with primary schools where possible.
– Building high quality stand-alone pre-schools.
• Special attention and high priority socio-economically
disadvantaged districts or locations.
• No hard separation of ages.
• Linking of all Anganwadis and pre-primary schools to a
primary school in the area physically or formally.

16. 1.3 Oversight of Early Childhood Education
by the MHRD
• Most early childhood education is delivered in the
form of Anganwadis and private pre-schools.
• Anganwadi system of pre-primary education, under
the aegis of the Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS), MWCD.
• Anganwadis have remained light on the educational
aspects of ECCE.
• All aspects of early childhood education will come
under the purview of the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD).
• To ensure continuity of curriculum and pedagogy
from pre-primary school to primary school.

17. 1.4 Design of Learning-friendly
Environments
• Anganwadis, pre-schools, and primary schools will all
have high quality physical infrastructure that is
conducive to learning.
• A committee of cognitive scientists, early childhood
education experts, artists, and architects will be
formed in each State.
• The physical environments for early childhood
education will be welcoming and stimulating.
• Accessible infrastructure, drinking water, and toilets
• Flexible seating arrangements.

18. 1.5 Professionalization of High Quality
Educators for Early Childhood Education
• State Governments will prepare cadres of
professionally qualified educators for early
childhood education.
• Current Anganwadi workers and educators to be
given the opportunity to participate in a 6-month
special training program.
• To enable them to carry out effective early
childhood teaching-learning practices.

19. 1.6 Instituting an Effective and Quality
Regulatory System for ECCE
• Effective quality regulation or accreditation
system for ECCE will be instituted as
recommended in the National ECCE Policy (2013):
– Formative, continuous and flow from the experiences
planned in the curriculum.
– Children shouldn’t be made to take any form of test,
either oral or written form.
– Home-based observations.
– Document each child’s learning in a variety of ways.

20. 1.7 Generating Demand from Stakeholders
for Early Childhood Education
• Large-scale advocacy through public service
messages and media campaigns.
• To make public well-informed on how a young
child’s needs are so different from what formal
education provides.

21. 1.8 Extension of the RTE Act to Include
ECCE
• Free and compulsory quality pre-primary
education for all 3-6 year olds will be included as
an integral part of the RTE Act.
• Recommends extending the ambit of the RTE Act
to include early childhood education and
secondary school education.

22. Limitations of Draft NPE 2019
• Handover of ECCE from MWCD to MHRD.
• Operationalisation of ambigious terms, eg: high
quality physical infrastructure, welcoming and
stimulating environment, etc.
• Political will on expenditure in non-voting assets.

23. Conclusion
• Quality ECCE to every child.
• Achieve the targets set by UN SDG 4: Quality
Education by 2025, 5 years ahead of the deadline.
• What is required:
– Political will
– Proper implementation
– Equally supportive attitude of the society

24. THANK YOU