Transcript Document

Challenges and Possibilities in Reaching
the Under-Threes
Presented at the
South Asian Regional Conference
on Early Childhood Care and Education
New Delhi, August 2012
Zakiya Kurrien
Centre For Learning Resources, Pune
Interventions in the earliest years
make a difference
The Evidence
Interventions which combine appropriate nutrition together with
psychosocial stimulation have a greater impact on both physical
growth and psychological development
Interventions during children’s first 2 and 3 years (including
prenatal care) are more likely to forestall deficits in psychosocial
development than during their preschool years
ECCE programmes can improve parent-child interaction, and
impact on feeding and other caregiving behaviours
Interventions can be characterised as :
Child – Focused
Parent – Focused
Direct interventions
with children
Usually centre - based
Direct contact with
parents, usually mothers
• Parent meetings
• Home visits
Joint – Focused
Direct interventions for children and parents
• Centre - based services
Plus
• Parent meetings and home visits
Reaching the under-threes in their homes
An initiative of Centre For Learning Resources (CLR)
Conditions that support home-based interventions
Most children in this age group being taken care of within
the family
Resource constraints for starting creches / daycare centres
Children at highest risk are younger than those attending
balwadis and anganwadis (preschool centres)
Caregiver education as an ECCE strategy needs to be
systematically explored
Designing the approach
The Overall Approach
Combined
Participation
and
Observation,
interviews,
discussion with
parents
and families
CLR Technical Inputs
Curriculum for
caregiver education,
communication
materials,
training programmes
Building capacity for home-based interventions
• Educate anganwadi workers (ECCE workers) and other field
workers about pre-natal health, child health and nutrition, and
psychosocial stimulation
• Train them as effective ‘communicators’ of messages related to
holistic child care
• Assist government agencies and NGOs to implement homebased interventions for improvement of early child care within
families
Field-based ‘Communicator’
Family / Community Members
Meetings
Meetings
Home visits
Field- based training of
communicators by master
trainers, & monitoring
Help
TOTs for Master Trainers
(Intensive programme)
Caregiver & Child
Discussion
Feedback
Discussion
Feedback
CLR Technical Support :
• Assistance in designing programme strategies
• Training for effective communication
• Modules
• Visual Aids, Videos, Exhibitions
CLR Education Package
for parents and other caregivers
of the birth - 3 years age group
Health
l
Nutrition
l
Psychosocial Development
Focus on
• Understanding holistic child development and role of caregivers
• Prime messages in :
- Pre-natal health
- neo-natal care, child and maternal health
- child nutrition
- importance of psychosocial stimulation and how to provide it
- child protection and age-appropriate child-rearing
• Play materials (from daily objects and waste material)
• Gender equity in caregiving practices
Available in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Oriya
Curriculum for Caregiver Education
Basic Knowledge Related to Child Development
• Concept of holistic child care - health, nutrition,
psychosocial stimulation, emotional well-being
• Role of parents and other caregivers within the family
• Developmental characteristics of under-threes
• Individual differences (Each child unique)
• Understanding that learning begins at birth; benefits of
early infant stimulation, play, caregiver-child interaction
Curriculum framework for main domains
of holistic care for under-threes
DOMAINS
SUB-STAGES
Prenatal
Health & Nutrition
Psychosocial / Cognitive
Development
Appropriate Handling of Infants;
Emotional Security
Protection / Safety
Neonatal –
Year 1
Year 2 & 3
Making inputs locale-specific
Adapting the generic content of the
CLR Education Package to local needs
1. Pre-intervention survey tools, to understand:
• Existing caregiver knowledge about pre-natal health,
neonatal care, child nutrition, child health and psychosocial
stimulation
• Caregiver behaviour : observation of caregiver-child
interaction
2. Use of Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
for contextualising interventions
Guide Book
Components of the
CLR Education Package
Manual for Communicators
Discussion Photographs
Other Visual Materials
Pictorial Handouts for
Caregivers
Home-visit
Guidelines
Communication Approach
• Devised for illiterate,
semi-literate audience
• Constructive rather than
compensatory approach
• Active learning by caregivers
• Materials suitable for
anganwadi (ECCE) workers /
‘communicators’ who may
have modest literacy levels
Playthings made during meetings
Sound makers
Puzzles
Mobiles
• Visual communication
Puppets
Picture Books
Training programme for communicators
and master trainers
Includes all inputs designed for caregivers
(i.e. content of Education Package)
Plus
For Communicators :
Interactive communication techniques
How to plan and conduct effective caregivers’ meetings
How to conduct effective follow-up home visits
Plus
For Master Trainers :
How to organise and conduct effective training programmes
for local communicators
Community-based advocacy
for holistic child care
• Exhibitions
• Videos
• Songs
• Organising
‘Child Care
Days’
Activities during
‘Child Care Day’ in villages
Summing up
CLR technical support for holistic
child care : Pre-natal - 3 years age group
Generic education package for caregivers, which can be
contextualised
Field-tested communication approach
Community-based channels for message delivery
Materials suitable for ‘communicators’ who may have modest
literacy level
Training programmes and training materials
Community awareness-raising and advocacy for responsive
parenting: Materials and strategies