Secretary, School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Sanjay Kumar, chaired a meeting to discuss on strategy to achieve the broader objectives of Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE), at Ambedkar International Centre in the national capital on Thursday.

Representatives of the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD), states, and autonomous bodies of the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L) attended the meeting.

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As envisioned under the National Curriculum Framework-Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) a continuum of pre-school education and School education is required for seamless transition and quality ECCE.

Speaking on this occasion, Sanjay Kumar set the context of the meeting and highlighted the importance of every stakeholder in quality ECCE. Kumar reiterated that it was heartening to see various initiatives taken by MoWCD and various states/UTs.

The need to have three Balvatikas for 3 to 6-year-olds for pre-primary in all CBSE and Kendriya Vidyalayas having Class 1 was emphasised during the meeting. Co-locating Anganwadis with primary schools in villages was recommended in coordination with WCD, in a decentralised manner to get a proper preschool education and smooth transition to Grade 1.

It was also suggested that Jaadui Pitara should be used at government schools with pre-primary classes for a well-rounded learning experience. It was suggested that the NCERT can work with state officials to assess existing learning toys, ensuring alignment with NCF-FS goals.

It was also suggested that MoE and WCD should collaborate to link Poshan Tracker and UDISE+ data to track pre-primary to Class 1 transitions. States can define parameters and use Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for Jaadui Pitara materials to ensure transparency and efficiency in procurement.

Discussions were also held on the standardisation of branding for programmes such as NIPUN Bharat, Jaadui Pitara, e Jaadui Pitara and Vidya Pravesh across states to enhance visibility and recognition.

It was suggested that the adopted and adapted version of Jaadui Pitara should correspond with the prescribed learning outcomes curated by NCERT for Jaadui Pitara. The NCERT should support SCERTs in following the designated Learning Outcomes.

The need for proper training of preschool teachers and Anganwadi Worker (AWW) was also discussed at length during the meeting.