In a bid to revolutionize the pre-school education, Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has set up 101 “Modern Anganwadi Hub Centres” for children belonging to the economically weaker section of society. These Anganwadi Centres are also called “Mohalla Playschools”.
आज दिल्ली में 300+ आंगनवाड़ियों को मिलाकर अलग अलग जगह, 101 आंगनवाड़ी Hub Centers का शुभारंभ ओखला से किया ― हर Hub Center 3या 4 आंगनवाड़ी को जोड़ के बना है
एक तरह से ये आंगनवाड़ी हब, आमआदमी के बच्चों के लिए 'मोहल्ला प्ले स्कूल' हैं जहां बच्चों का बेहतर ख़्याल रखा जाएगा pic.twitter.com/Eu9a87ei3E
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) December 24, 2018
The move comes under the umbrella of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme which aims at providing food, preschool education, and primary healthcare to children under 6 years of age and their mothers.
Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia inaugurated the first ‘Mohalla Playschool’ on Monday. He claimed that more than 10,000 Anganwadi Centres are the platform to provide the necessary care and learning to the children. These hubs will serve as ‘Mohalla Playschool’ to the children whose families can’t afford play schools otherwise.
These Anganwadi Centres will cater to children aged between 3 and 6. They have been created by clubbing two or three existing Angawadis in multiple locations, including Okhla, Kondli and Patparganj. They were inaugurated by the legislators of the respective areas.
Also, the Delhi government is planning to introduce a new curriculum for these playschools to make the children school-ready.
Sisodia addressed the cause of the learning gap for children. He said that poor early learning experience in the early years leads to this learning gap which in turn continues to hamper the progress of the child.
He said that the children in government schools start their formal schooling in Class 1 as a result of which they lack behind in the field of cognitive development than those who can afford playschools.
The Delhi government released a statement earlier this month informing about the training of Anganwadi workers under the newly designed Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum. The curriculum was developed in collaboration with ECE experts. It focuses on the introduction of many new learning features and techniques which are based on the latest researches on early childhood learning and cognitive development.