A partnership project for quality, inclusive early childhood development and basic education has been implemented at 6 local levels in Mahottari and Sarlahi.
What you should know
The heads of the local level have said that in order to make the child development of the community school effective, it should be separated from the school. People's representatives have accepted that the physical structure of child development is dilapidated, the management is lax and the number of students is low, because the school administration does not give priority to child development classes.
According to the Save the Children Bardibas field office, enrollment in early childhood development centers in Madhesh province is on average 62 percent, which is lower than the national average rate of 70 percent. In Mahottari and Sarlahi of Madhesh province, only 18 percent of the primary child development centers have child accessible learning materials and only 10.9 percent have book corners with adequate textbooks, so most of the child development centers at the target local level have not even met the minimum standards set by the government.
In Mahottari and Sarlahi, where there is a deep gap in infrastructure, learning materials, awareness among caregivers and disability inclusion, more than 53 percent of the population is illiterate. Save the Children Bardibas Field Office has conducted a project to ensure equal access to quality learning, best interests and development opportunities for children in the age group of 3-5 years in both districts. Mohan Pandey, the head of Manrasiswa Municipality, said that child development teachers were appointed on the basis of political access to schools, there was a lack of manpower who could understand the psychology of children, and the salary of child development teachers was low.
In the launching program of the Partnership Project for Quality, Inclusive Early Childhood Development and Basic Education, City Chief Pandey said that there is a need for policy reform to separate education up to Class 3 as students are enrolled in public schools only after Class 4.
'Even when students are given mid-day meals in community schools, they do not enroll in child development and go to private schools,' said City Chief Pandey, 'In private schools, they are psychologically prepared for class 1 after studying at pre-primary level for 3 years. However, after only one year of teaching at the Community Child Development Center, the students are not able to read when they enroll in class 1. The education plan has not been effective due to outside imitation and research in education in Nepal.
Kalpana Katuwal, head of Barhathwa municipality Sarlahi, said that to improve public school education, child development should be improved. "The quality of education in public schools has deteriorated due to ineffective child development learning," she said, "Despite local level initiatives and efforts, enrollment in child development is low. Child development has not been prioritized in the management of community schools.
To make child development in community schools effective, a partnership project for quality, inclusive early childhood development and basic education has been implemented in 6 local levels of Mahottari and Sarlahi in Madhesh Province with the help of Save the Children. Dhan Bhusal, field office head of Save the Children Bardibas, said that under the partnership project for quality, inclusive early childhood development and basic education, which started in Pipra, Balwa, Manrasiswa of Mahotari and Haripur, Kavilasi and Barhathwa municipalities of Sarlahi, child development classes are repaired, children are made effective by making them risk-free.
He said that the infrastructure of school-based Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers will be improved by building and renovating classrooms in child development centers that do not meet the minimum standards, water supply, sanitation and hygiene for creating a safe and accessible learning environment. Bhusal said that more than 11,600 children will benefit from the distribution of learning materials, establishment of libraries at home, identification of disabled children and availability of auxiliary equipment, capacity building of parents and teachers, and support to the local government in policy and strategy formulation.
