Ministry of Women and Child Development launches national Curriclulam for early childhood care and education for children from three to six years

Under the National Education Policy 2020, many significant changes have been made in the educational sector by the central government. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has announced a national curriculum for children in the age group of 3-6 years.

A national curriculum for the care and education of children aged three will be launched, and the details of the programme will be available soon.

The ministry said that 85 per cent of brain development occurs before the age of six. Therefore the Ministry aims to provide a robust childcare and educational infrastructure. This includes a safe environment, nutritional support and holistic development activities.

Under initiatives such as Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Potion 2.0 inspired by the Pradhan Mantri Matri Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) schemes, the Ministry aims to provide comprehensive care support to mothers of children under six years of age and above. All areas of national curriculum development for early childhood care and education have been considered.

"The initiative aims to promote competency-based education through sports and entertainment-based activities," the ministry said.

The documents have been prepared by the National Institute for Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), with the support of an Internal Committee and development partners. Feedback from Anganwadi Workers has been incorporated to make the curriculum more flexible, and activity-based, using more illustrations and less text. NIPCCD will lead the training of Anganwadi functionaries on the new Curriculum and Framework. Provisions from both the Curriculum and the Framework, including weekly activity schedules, home visit guidance, assessment tools for tracking child development etc. will also be included on the Poshan Tracker.