Mobile Creches
Innovative Responses to Challenges on the Ground
Sudeshna Sengupta
Sr. Manager, Advocacy,
September, 2014.
Defining ECCE: ECCE Policy, India, 2013
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Refers to programmes and provision from pre-natal to six years
Reaching out to children in multiple locations through multiple providers
Standardising quality
Curriculum framework
Provision to cater to all domains of development i.e. physical, motor,
language, cognitive, socio- emotional, and creative and aesthetic
appreciation
Developmental priorities for each sub stage within the continuum, i.e.
care, early stimulation/interaction needs for children below 3 years
Developmentally appropriate preschool education for 3 to 6 year olds
with a more structured and planned school readiness component for 5 to 6
year olds
Ensure synergy with health and nutrition aspects
Challenges to respond to
• Diverse situations – geographical, ethnic, religious, cultural and
linguistic
• Urbanisation – challenges of space/infrastructure
• Convergence
• Access – inclusion, equity
• Poverty
Mobile Creches Response
Based on
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The scientific argument
The social justice and equity argument
The rights argument
The economic argument
For
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Children of Migrant Parents
Children in Urban Slums
All Children at risk - income poverty, poverty of opportunity
Through strategies that take ground level learning forward to influencing policy
environment
Mobile Creches Response
 Direct interventions - services, model building
 Community mobilization and system strengthening with
community engagement
 MC as a Resource
 Leading Civil Society Movements and Policy interventions
Response 1: Holistic Daycare Model
Impact of Day Care Program
• Safety, security and protection for an average of 1200 children
everyday
• Relief from sibling care for 400 children
• Nutritional Grade Improvement – 72%
• Age Appropriate Immunization – 98%
• Mainstreaming older children – 20 to 30%
• Linkage with Government Health Services – 90%
• ECCE Programmes everyday with planned activities
Learning by playing
Empowering mothers
Response 2: Community Engagement
Direct community engagements at urban settlements.
Momentum at Ground level around young child agenda, Evidence
building, monitoring
 Work with the government to strengthen the state provisions at
the local level
Strategies – Children in Urban Slums
Family Based
Interventions
Awareness
Building
Empowering
Communities,
Strengthening
Services
Linking with
Government
Programmes and
other Childcare
Services
Building
Community
Groups
Impact on Children – Urban Slums
Impact – Community Mobilisation
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Reality check on status of ICDS –All projects, Delhi
80 anganwadis opened through demand generation from community
37 active Delhi FORCES grassroots partners are in place to raise demand
for young child
Study done to assess the need for childcare with 1380 household in 22
slums
4 public hearing resulted in improving the quality of nutrition and
timings of 30 ICDS centers , sanctioning for 2 Primary Health centre at
Madanpur Khadar and solve other local problems
Key Learnings
Elements of a successful ECCE(birth -6years ) Programme
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Holistic design - linked to nutrition, health and care
Curriculum and Guidelines (context specific and flexible) on Daily Activities
Quality norms
Teaching and Learning Materials
Community engagement
Program Operations & Systems
Supervision Monitoring
Stakeholder Participation
Human Resource:
- Training for Skills, Knowledge & Attitude
- Adequate Remuneration – Value & Dignity
Infrastructure
Adequate financial resource
Response 3: MC as a Resource
• Perspective and capacity building on ECCE and for
operationalising crèches for:
– Government Agencies
– NGOs
– Community Women
To create a pool of trained, informed institutions and
professionals
• Creating indigenous training and learning materials
Response 4:
Leading Civil Society Movements
Networking with:
• Grassroots organisation
• Rights Groups and Campaigns
• State Networks
• Academia
• Experts
• Practitioners
Also
Steering Committee Member in International Network – ARNEC
Research , documentation and analysis
Situational Analysis, Policy analysis, Inputs into 5 Year Plans
Response 4: Policy Interventions
• Serving on the Government Committees
• Dialogues with the Government agencies (National / Departments,
NCPCR)
• Linking with International Agencies (Unicef, UnWomen, ILO)
ECCE Policy and Birth of Alliance
A network of:
• Networks and movements(right to food, right to education, gender rights, health
rights, young child’s rights)
• Experts on ECD from Academia
• Practitioners
• Academic Institutions like CECED
• National Law Universities
Objective:
• Right to ECD (H, N, E, C, P) as justiciable rights
• Its seeds in the Right to Education movement of 2002 where under sixes were
left out as it was intersectoral, expensive and complex
Policy Gains
Policy
• ECCE Policy, 2013 -Drafting Committee Member on first ECCE Policy,
2012
Law
• Young Child under National Food Security Act, 2013 – Drafting Rules
Programme
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Restructured ICDS in Mission Mode with AWCC as a component
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Recognised by MWCD as “Resource” for Training and Piloting AWC-cumcrèches
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Curriculum Framework –National and State
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Milestones for 3-6s prepared for measuring learning outcomes
Future plans to scale up demand and
provisions
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Framing of draft law (set of laws) on Right to ECD and build a campaign
around it
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Capacity building of community, functionaries and management within the
Government Programmes for Children under six at the national level and in
different states
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Working with academia, experts, practitioners and Rights groups on Right to
Education for Under Sixes
MOBILE CRECHES