School Education Department(SED), Government of Sindh has taken a lead in launching Province’s first Early Childhood Care & Education Policy (ECCE) today at a local Hotel in, Karachi. Chief Guest of the ceremony Dr.Azra Fazal Pechuho, Member of National Assembly and Chancellor SZABIST congratulated SED for achieving this milestone. She said that ECCE Policy would not only create and develop students’ empathy with fellow human beings but also with nature and environment. Further, she said that the policy will support in fostering social skills which can’t be learned at home. She urged the School Education Department and other stakeholders to implement ECCE Policy in letter and spirit so that challenge of bringing the out of school children back to school can be tackled effectively.
Secretary School Education Department, Abdul Aziz Uqaili highlighted a major challenge that is recruitment of qualified ECCE teachers for successful implementation of ECCE Policy. Keeping the ground realities in mind Secretary stated that SED will introduce one year ECCE program for the children aged 4-5 years. This program will be scaled up later. He informed that the recruitment process has been initiated and a rigorous training program of ECCE teachers will also be organized.
While briefing about ECCE Curriculum, Head of Curriculum Wing, Dr.Fouzia Khan said that ECCE Curriclum has been designed on the basis of National Curriculum which caters to the needs of children for holistic development.
Sharing progress on ECCE in Sindh, Additional Secretary Schools & Provincial Coordinator for ECCE, Imtiaz Bhatti said that a separate Project Implementation Unit has been set up which will be converted into ECCE Directorate in future.
Chief Program Manager, Reform Support Unit Mr. Faisal Ahmed Uqaili welcomed guests and presented an overview of the ECCE policy. He said that formulating and developing ECCE Policy is a first step but there is still a long way to achieve desired goals.
Country Director Plan International, Imran Yousuf Shami assured his organization’s full commitment to implement the policy with government .He also committed to provide 100 sets of books for starting ECCE classes in Government Boys Higher Secondary School Church Mission School.
Early Childhood Care & Education Policy focuses on holistic development of child including basic needs for protection, food and health care and education. The policy is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and will play a pivotal role in transition of children from pre-primary to primary and serve as a useful tool for pursuing clear and coherent action plan geared towards introduction and promotion of Early Childhood Education in Sindh.
By developing the ECCE Policy, School Education Department has successfully achieved a major milestone under the Sindh Education Sector Plan (SESP) 2014-18. This policy is the outcome of collective efforts involving experts, early childhood specialists, practitioners, researchers, academicians and development partners representing various strands of School Education Department, NGOs and INGOs.
Imran Alam, Country Advisor Plan International Pakistan and Lubna Khalid Director Colleges and Schools, SZABIST also spoke on the occasion. The launch was organized by School Education Department, Government of Sindh in collaboration with Plan International Pakistan which was attended by international development partners, civil society, education experts, academicians and media.
