Month: November 2022

The barriers to education need to be taken down one single brick at a time and holistic education is achieved by gaining one step at a time. Every instance in a child’s life plays a critical role in building the individual they turn out to be. Interventions at the beginning of a child’s learning curve have more than a preliminary effect on their future development. The earliest years of a child’s life, where they pick up skills and emotional responses, has been understood to determine a child’s survival and thriving in life. These particularly lay the foundation for their learning and holistic development. Various facets of a child’s life are built in this period, ranging from cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills – each of which plays a critical role in their determining the path that a child takes to achieve success in life and also gives children a future that they are able to achieve. Looking at education in this holistic manner is necessary if one were to even attempt to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Each of which, from challenging poverty to making a more equitable society, from building an effective healthcare system to making institutions stronger and more accountable, from making people more aware about their environment to gaining access to essentialities in life. An intervention at the beginning of a child’s life will be critical to realizing these goals.

What one attempts to go through this concept is to confront issues of nutrition, health, and education in the early years of a child’s life – which is from pre-natal to 6 to 8 years of a child’s life. It attempts to look at a child through a lifecycle approach which touches upon every instance that leads to one having a healthy and fulfilling life. To understand this one has to approach the early interactions that a child has, which are to a large extent determined by supportive family and community care practices, proper nutrition and healthcare, learning opportunities which eventually lead to policies that care for children and enable families to invest in their child. One also has to note that ECE positively impacts attendance, retention and the learning of children in their elementary and higher education. This has a much higher impact on children who are bound to underperform due to their social and economic position in the society. It is critical to not just the progress of a child, but it is vital to the nation’s education, civic and economic prosperity. In the process of reducing the gaps in social and economic factors, working with the future of these very communities have been dependent on these efforts to bridge the learning curve from childhood to elementary education.

This isn’t a novel concept; India had included ECD as a part of its educational systems from almost 5000 years prior. A gamut of traditional practices was employed in early childhood care and education. There was a slow fading of these as colonial educational practices slowly corroded the earlier practices, it was only through preschool education primarily undertaken by voluntary agencies and private institutions that early childhood development was undertaken. Through rigorous documentation in the latter half of the 19th century, we understood the nature of education that was there earlier.

Data derived from Census 2011 determines that there are about 158.7 million children between the ages of 0-6, it is then critical that we recognize the need to provide quality pre-primary education programmes. In an effort to do so a number of constitutional and policy provisions have been made, NPE (1986) paved the way for the 86th Constitutional Amendment which introduced Article 21A on the right to education for free and compulsory education for 6-14 years of age, and Article 45 urges each of the states to provide ECCE for all children till the time they complete the age of six years. These efforts resulted in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2010, which guaranteed children’s right to quality elementary education. Though ECCE has not been recognized as a compulsory provision by the RTE it urges states to provide free pre-school education for children above the age of three years. It incorporated holistic care and education into the system and provided it to children from 0-6 years, especially from disadvantaged groups – groups which were in dire need of such assistance. Progress continued and led to the National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy in 2013 that the Government of India approved, this policy also included the National Curriculum Framework and Quality Standards for ECCE. The factor that sets this apart is that the policy caters to all children under 6 years, and is a commitment by the State to provide universal access to quality early childhood education. It is the Women and Child Department that is responsible for the ICDS programme, a centrally sponsored and State administered ECCE programme. This covers, on an estimate of about 38 million children through a network of more than 1.4 million Anganwadi Centres. ICDS covers most of the aspects of ECD, it tackles issues of supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-up, pre-school education, referral services, and nutrition and health education. ECCE effectively targets the psychosocial development of children and develops them for school readiness.

Source: http://bweducation.businessworld.in/article/Where-Does-Quality-Education-Begin-/10-09-2018-159708/

Consumer health and hygiene company, Reckitt Benckiser (RB), has launched Season 6 of its flagship Dettol BSI initiative with a focus on ‘Swasth’ this time.

According to the company, the transition from Banega Swachh to Banega Swasth India, is supported by campaign ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan with the veteran actor unveiling ‘The Swasth Box’ along with dignitaries from RB and health experts from across the country on Monday.

“Our journey towards Swachhta started five years ago with a great vision that brought Dettol Banega Swachh India to life. The programme’s conscious effort to drive behaviour change across communities has encouraged people to adopt better health practices and we are extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve together. To be able to drive lndia’s health agenda further, it is imperative for us to focus on another significant factor – Swastha. Given health today is more than an absence of illness – being healthy also means being fit and happy. The upcoming year will witness special attention on child nutrition and pregnant mothers that form the backbone of our future generations. This year the programme is further complementing Govt’s initiative, Ayushmann Bharat”, Gaurav Jain, senior vice president, AMESA, RB Health, said.

This kit/box will have various things ranging from hand sanitizer, bath soap, Dettol wipes, baby blanket, sanitary pads, mosquito nets, nail cutter, zinc, ORS, Iodine, cotton roll, baby wrap, small sustainable toy for the kid and hypothermia care kit. The kit is further supported by Pehel and Smile Foundation.

“The first 1,000 days for a new born are very crucial for his/her neurodevelopment and lifelong mental health. Making provisions for adequate nutrients through breastfeeding and healthy eating during this crucial time affects the long-term health and therefore, our focus going forward will be on the well-being of new mothers and children”, Ravi Bhatnagar, director external affairs and partnerships, RB Health AMESA, said.

RB’s health, hygiene and home portfolio is led by global brands Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex, Scholl, Clearasil, Lysol, Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Cillit Bang, Mortein, Finish, Vanish, Calgon, Air Wick, Woolite and French’s.

“The deadline for India to become open defecation free is 2nd October 2019 which is the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It was Gandhiji’s dream that the quality of life of every Indian should improve with sanitation, cleanliness and hygiene as its foundation. Along with the elimination of open defecation we are also working towards a country where our infants and most vulnerable citizens stay healthy. If we all come together we can achieve this. Please do join us in this campaign to ensure that our country is clean and healthy for our future generations”, Dr. Prannoy Roy, co-founder and executive co-chairperson, NDTV, said.

While the transition from Swachh to Swasth took place, RB will continue to take the cleanliness agenda forward as well. Clean India will ensure a Healthy India and hence, the efforts of ensuring a hygienic environment will take place to take ODF to ODF plus. Water conservation will also be a pivotal agenda to drive under which 5 lakhs schools.