Knowledge
60,000 Anganwadis to now function on the line of ‘kindergartens’.
ICDS is working towards creating an education bank for children in the age group of 3 to 6 years and asking donors to donate uniforms, books, pens and other utility items. Anganwadis will now have elements like a set timetable, uniforms, i-cards etc.
Rajasthan has 61,000 anganwadi centres which are functional today, all of which are going to be developed on the lines of kindergartens with a core focus on pre-school education. The government has decided that uniforms, i-cards for children, dedicated periods for different activities will be introduced in anganwadis across the state.
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is creating an "education bank" for children in the age group of 3 to 6 years with the help of donors. ICDS has appealed for donations of alphabet blocks, number blocks, sharpener, erasers, pencils, colours, books and copies, black board, chairs, benches, uniforms, almirah, wall clock and other items having utility for children.
"The children who are in the age category of 3 to 6 years have a mind in learning stage. We want to prepare them for schools by imparting them proper pre-school education. In anganwadi centres, the focus was more on providing nutritious food to children but now we are focussing more on pre-schools education for their cognitive development," Dr Samit Sharma, director ICDS said.
So far, the donation drive has helped the anganwadi centres to collect 68,165 uniforms, copies, pen pencils, bag and other education material from the donors within just 2 weeks up to June 30.
Till now, the anganwadis were not following any timetable as the focus was not on providing a set education. But, now like any other play school or kindergarten, the anganwadis will have 8 am to 12 noon timetable with separate periods for linguistic, cognitive, mental development.
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