The early childhood education system has still not been introduced in the schools of Sindh although its syllabus has been approved by the government. The early childhood programme is facing lots of difficulties because concrete steps have not been taken to implement it in the primary schools of the province.
The programme entitled ‘Releasing Confidence & Creativity (RCC) – Building’ and aimed at building a sound foundation for early learning in Pakistan was started by HANDS in collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation and USAID. It is being implemented in 99 schools of Sindh.
Its aim is to benefit school-going children, especially those enrolled in pre-primary classes. It focuses on four key areas — parents’ education, child development, stimulation, child protection and nutrition. Other important beneficiaries include teachers, head teachers, parents, community members, the education department and the local government.
Children and teachers meet on a daily basis and parents on a weekly basis at the school and the ‘Parwarish Markaz’ being monitored on a regular basis, with a quarterly programme review and first-term, mid-term and last-term evaluations.
One of the cases of such intervention is Muskan, a five-year-old disabled girl, who is a resident of the Matiari district. She is being taken care of by the Early Childhood Development Centre, has improved her learning skills and is now a good performer in her class.
HANDS Executive Council members have urged the government to take effective measures to implement the early childhood syllabus and appoint teachers as soon as possible.