Nurturing Childhood Sowing Change
Mobile Creches
Case Study from India
Presentation Outline
• Situation of the Young Child
• The migrant child – going nowhere - Impact of Migration
on Children
•
Mobile Creches’ Response - Daycare centre at
construction sites
- Delivery model
- Programme, Impact, cost
- Features responsible for ensuring and sustaining quality
• Growing up in Delhi’s Slums
• Mobile Creches response for children in urban settlements
- Strategies adopted for settled populations
- Impact and achievements
- Features responsible for success
Situation of the Young Child
• 160 million children under 6yrs - 60 million
living in poverty
• 47% children are malnourished
• 61% children not fully immunized
• 80% children born with low birth weight
• 38% children 3-6yrs attend pre-school
• 76% children complete primary school
The Unmet Need: ECCD
60 million children in need of ECCD services
•The ‘What’: maternal health, new born health;
maternity support; breastfeeding;
immunization; early stimulation; growth
monitoring; appropriate and adequate
nutrition; pre-school
•The ‘Why’: Citizenship; Science; Equity;
Economic rationale
Mobile Creches
Response
MC Strategic Thrust
affected by migration
For Young Child
in settled urban communities
I. Service Delivery - Daycare Centres at Construction Sites
- service delivery models; facilitation models
II. Community Facilitation - Ensuring childcare at Urban Settlements
- awareness and demand creation models
↓
↓
↓
Learnings feed into
•Networking with NGOs and other campaigns
to strengthen
movement - demand for quality services for young child
•Training in Childcare – build capacities for early childcare and
good practices for other NGOs
•Advocacy with the Government – improved policies and
programmes for migrant and young children
The Migrant Child
- going nowhere
Impact of migration on the child
• Average duration of stay on a site - 4 months
• 70% malnutrition
• Incomplete immunization
• No response or outreach from state services
• Young child (under 3 yrs) - breast feeding impossible, delayed
weaning, denied immunization – increased malnutrition,
morbidity and even mortality
• Preschool child (3-6 yrs) - supplementary nutrition and health
compromised, lack of care and learning opportunities
• Older child (6 yrs and above) - interrupts schooling, dropouts,
child labour, no peer support, likely early marriage
I. MC Daycare Centres at Construction
Sites Integrated Program
• Age Appropriate
needs of children
• Play way, childcentred approach
• Readiness skills
• Mainstreaming
• Tutorial support
• 3 times hot cooked
wholesome balanced
nutritious meal
• Growth monitoring
• Special diet for the
malnourished
• One-to-one
interaction, Mothers’
meeting, Street plays,
media, etc.
• Building local
leadership
Nutrition
Education
Community
Communication
Health
• Regular health
checkups
• Immunization
• Vitamin A, Iron
supplementati
on
• Deworming
Impact of Day Care Program
(through 18-20 centres)
• Safety, security and protection for 1200 children
• Sibling Care Relief - 400 children
• Nutritional Grade Improvement – 67%
• Age Appropriate Immunization – 94%
• Learning Levels: improved performance on gross motor
development, confidence levels, cognition (91%)
• Mainstreaming older children – 20-30%
• Linkage with Government Health Services – 90%
Outcomes
Nutritional Status: improved due to supplementary nutrition
program – 500cal/20gm protein/day
(Children at centre for six months or more – 73% showed improvement)
10%
Grades improved
17%
49%
Grades retained
Grades unchanged
24%
Grades deteriorated
Learning Capacities
Impact of Educational interventions (Balwadi Evaluation Study):
Children at MC (More than 200 days):
• Improved performance on parameters of language (87%),
cognition(91%), creativity and physical development (77%).
• Total Score: 85% in comparison to 67% for those spending 50100 days
Organization Features Three Critical Pillars
1. Programme Design – Professional inputs, periodic
evaluations and reviews, procedures, guidelines
2. Supporting Systems (MIS, Procedures,
guidelines and Admin support)
3. HR Systems
Fundamental Principles guiding Programme
Design for all components
•
Focus on all the age groups – conception - 12yrs
•
Holistic approach – focusing on all domains of development
•
Minimal facilities and low cost materials
•
Accessibility – timings, location
•
Flexibility – Responds to specific needs
•
Inclusive – children with different abilities
•
The Rights approach
•
Stake holders Participation– children, parents, contractors
•
Respect for community culture, tradition and ethos
•
Community awareness and participation- sustaining impact
- building community leadership (Saathi Samooh)
- parent’s meetings, street plays, media, campaigns, community events
• Accessing government facilities – mainstreaming, immunization
Supporting Systems
1. Operational guidelines documented
2. Control systems for follow up and supervision
3. Structured Supervision & Monitoring systems
4. Reporting structure including MIS for feedback to MC
senior management
5. Oversight by Governing Board
HR Systems
• Organizational structure
• Clarity on roles and job responsibilities
• Building and strengthening human resource systems - a
positive work culture fostering shared learning
•
promoting staff motivation through continued professional
growth and joint problem-solving
• Regular performance
management system
with recognition,
acknowledgement,
promotional and
incentive systems
How much does it cost to provide quality ECCD
• Approx. Rs.1000/- per month / child
• Operational costs 80%
• Supervisory, support,
building 20%
monitoring,
capacity
Growing Up in Delhi’s Slums
• Total under 6 population 19.23 lac (census 2001)
• 12 lac under 6 children (64%) live in Urban Poor
Settlements (DES 2007-2008)
Children Health Status
75%children under 3 suffer from diarrheoa and 63% have anaemia
MC’s Response for settled populations
Facilitation
• Awareness on importance of 0-6 yrs and implication of
neglect
• Building community groups
• Family based interventions for change in child care
practices
• Demonstration model of Community based child care
services with training and capacity building support
• Linkages with government services and schemes –
health
Impact of Urban Interventions
• Reaching approximately 4800 children under 6
• 72% - Improvement in nutrition grade
• 80% - Birth registration
• 92% - Immunization
•Linkage to ICDS 1400 children
MC’s Achievements
• Reached out to 7,50,000 children
• Multiple models in partnership with communities and
Builders/contractors
•
8 community groups - 4 are registered with young
issues in their bye- laws
child
•
80 anganwadis opened through demand generation
from community
• Trained 6,500 Childcare workers
• National Advocacy – Lobbied for and provided inputs for
better Laws , Policies, Programmes and Schemes
Let us work together to give back a
happy childhood to all children…
www.mobilecreches.org