Against the backdrop of early childhood education (ECE) being described as an area of darkness in Indian education, at the EducationWorld Early Childhood Education Global Conference 2013, a panel discussion on the subject ‘Is Indian academia/society ignorant about ECE?’, evoked spirited debate. Chaired by EducationWorld editor Dilip Thakore (DT), the specially constituted panel comprised Dr. Venita Kaul (VK), director of the School of Education Studies and Center for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University, Delhi; Swati Popat Vats (SPV), president of the Podar Education Network and Early Childhood Association (India); Reshma Shrinivas (RS), founder and managing director of WeCare Learning (estb. 2008), Bangalore’s largest wholly owned early childcare and learning centres company; and Suman Kapoor (SK), founder and CEO of Your Kids ‘R’ Our Kids, one of India’s largest corporate childcare chains with 25 centres and an aggregate enrolment of 4,500 children in six cities across India. Excerpts from the 100-minute panel discussion which also provoked much comment from the floor. DT: Is serious research being conducted on ECE in India’s 611 universities? Why do we always have to rely on research studies done abroad? Also, why haven’t the country’s 1.6 million anganwadis been transformed into preschools? VK: We tend to become disheartened because we are unaware of the considerable work being done in ECE, possibly because India is vast and information dissemination is abysmal. However, when I visited China recently, I was surprised to discover that it has only recently begun to experiment with ECE, whereas our Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme was started way back in 1975, and our women and child development ministry was the first in South-east Asia to propagate this important initiative. With reference to your question on anganwadis, the answer is the pathetic salaries of anganwadi workers. The total budget per anganwadi is only Rs.1 lakh per year, and with most of it spent on child nutrition, practically nothing is left for education. DT: Therefore the burden of ECE delivery has devolved on private education providers. Swati, how easy was it to promote the Early Childhood Association (ECA)? What are the objectives of the association? SPV: There isn’t much enthusiasm for the association because we advocate that preschool teachers should be paid the same salaries as other school teachers, given the equal if not greater, importance of professionally delivered ECE. Our objective is to thoroughly professionalise preschools in India by researching ECE, accrediting preschools, disseminating best practices, and training preschool teachers. We are also ready to provide ECA services to government anganwadis. The Central and state governments are making a big mistake by not cooperating with us. DT: Reshma, as a pioneer in delivering on-site early childhood care and education (ECCE) to corporates, how easy was it to sell the idea of childcare centres to Indian industry and parents’ communities? RS: When we started operations five years ago, both communities were receptive from the start. On-site ECCE was welcomed by women in employment and corporates anxious to get trained women back to work. However, the common perception is that care and early childhood education are synonymous. They are not.…
