ECCE | Samagra Shiksha Govt. of Meghalaya

The National Policy of Education

"The NPE gives importance to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as a crucial input for human resource development, as a feeder and support programme for primary education and as a support service for working women of the disadvantaged sections of society. It has also taken into account the holistic nature of ECCE and has pointed out the need for early care and stimulation of children belonging to the vulnerable sector. The potential of ECCE is recognised as an intervention for lifelong education. It is widely acknowledged as an essential input for girls’ education in freeing girls from sibling care responsibilities, leading to their regular attendance in school and in providing school readiness skills to pre-school children. With the RTE in place the preschool segment of education has become all the more important".

Samagra Shiksha,

The Integrated Scheme for School Education envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from Pre-School to Senior Secondary levels. These would cover preschools referred to by all nomenclatures such as Anganwadi, Balwadi, nursery, preschool, preparatory, pre-school, LKG, UKG, play centres, crèches, Bal Vatikas etc. Research and experience have repeatedly demonstrated that Early Childhood Development and Education not only increases the progress and achievement of children in primary schools and lay the foundation for future growth, learning and development, but also develop positive attitudes and the desire to learn. Therefore, it becomes imperative to provide quality pre-school experiences to children.

The Pre-school is an early childhood program in which children combine learning with play and programs run by professional trained teacher or coordinator. Children are most commonly enrolled in Pre-school between the ages of three to five. In the State of Meghalaya, pre-school is commonly known Pre-primary school, playschool or Kindergarten which is an educational institution establishment or learning space offering early childhood care education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school.

Young children deserve an enthusiastic start in life and they need quality early experiences, especially in the early ages so that they grow, learn, develop and flourish fully. Researches also suggest that the quality of early years learning experiences has significant impact on school adjustments and the learning levels of children in later schooling. For achieving the Universalization of Elementary Education, universalization of Early Year Education is a pre-requisite and quality EYE is one of the goals that make-up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. There is need for children to be provided with developmentally appropriate early learning opportunities at preschool and early primary stage in continuum.

Samagra Shiksha,

Pre-school kids, Meghalaya