Union Minister Smriti Irani to launch Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi, Nationwide event with 800 ICDS Employees

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 10 May 2023

In New Delhi, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) will host a national event to celebrate the launch of its flagship Poshan Bhi, Padai Bhi program.

The event will focus on enhancing Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), a key element of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) and one that is envisioned under the National Education Policy.

Smriti Irani, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, will preside over the event, which will be attended by more than 800 Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) employees from various states.

Additionally speaking at the session will be WCD MoS Munjpara Mahendrabhai, WCD Secretary Indevar Pandey, Sanjay Kaul, a former secretary for the Karnataka government's Department of School Education, and the chair of the ministry's ECCE Task Force.

The ministry will also go through the top ECCE methods from Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

"The event's major goal is to draw attention to how important it is to prioritize early childhood care and education. As recommended by the National Education Policy, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is establishing "Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi, a pathbreaking ECCE program to ensure that India has the largest, most comprehensive network of high-quality preschools in the world."

Participants will talk about important measures to help Anganwadi personnel develop their capacities so they can turn the Anganwadi into a hub for preschool education.

The nation's almost 13.9 lakh active Anganwadi sites, the largest public provider of such services in the world, are giving an additional 8 crore beneficiary children under the age of 6 supplemental nourishment, early care, and education. According to a ministry statement, “The Anganwadi eco-system becomes a crucial entry point for developing our children's foundation to ensure their future, given that 85% of brain development is completed by the age of six.”

Every domain listed in the National Curriculum Framework, including physical and motor development, cognitive development, socio-emotional-ethical development, cultural and artistic development, as well as the development of communication and early language, literacy, and numeracy, will be targeted by the program.

All States shall implement the recommendations made by the national ECCE task force for a play-based, activity-based learning methodology that is primarily focused on the developmental stages of children aged 0 to 3 as well as those aged 3-6, and includes specialized assistance for Divyang children.

Every kid will get at least two hours of daily, high-quality preschool teaching thanks to the modifications made by the "Poshan bhi, Padhai bhi" ECCE policy, the ministry stated.

“Poshan bhi Padhai bhi will focus on promoting holistic and quality early stimulation and pre-primary education for children, ensuring the use of developmentally appropriate pedagogies and emphasizing the links with primary education as well as early childhood health and nutrition services," as stated in the NEP. Anganwadi Centres will be strengthened with high-quality infrastructure, play equipment, and well-trained Anganwadi workers/teachers.

The Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi program will give Anganwadi Sewikas access to a variety of teaching-learning resources (visual aids, audio aids, audio-visual aids, and bodily-kinesthetic aids), the mother tongue as the primary teacher instruction medium, and support the creation of a Jan Andolan to involve communities in the improvement of the services.