The National Education Policy recommended pedagogy training for Anganwadi workers to raise the teaching standards at these rural pre-schools closer to those at city playschools and nursery schools.
Three years on, the process is yet to start, with educationists suggesting the government is not only uninterested in improving the education system but is wary of
having to pay the Anganwadi workers more once they are trained as pre-school teachers.
The NEP, brought in 2020, seeks to change the 10+2 school structure to 5+3+3+4, effectively bringing the three years of Early Childhood Care and Education under the school education system.
Currently, early childhood education in the country’s villages is provided at 13.79 lakh Anganwadi centres under the Integrated Child Development Services.
Most of these centres operate independently, and away from primary schools. The NEP seeks to integrate the Anganwadi centres with formal schools.
Each Anganwadi centre has a worker and an assistant. The workers are usually Class X pass and engage the children in playful activities while giving them a basic understanding of objects, letters and numbers.
The NEP says that Anganwadi workers are to be trained in a curricular/ pedagogical framework developed by the NCERT. Anganwadi workers with Class X qualification will receive a year’s training while those who have cleared Class XII will be trained for six months.
“It’s the NDA government that brought the NEP, and teachers are key stakeholders in the policy’s implementation. Anganwadi workers have to be trained and upgraded to the level of teachers, but nothing has happened,” an academic who didn’t wish to be identified said.
He said the Centre doesn’t want to upgrade Anganwadi workers for it would then have to pay them a teacher’s salary. An Anganwadi worker is now paid Rs 4,500 a month -- about a seventh of a primary teacher’s starting salary.
“The government generally doesn’t want to spend on education because it brings no political benefits. The Ram temple will be built before 2024 because it will give them votes,” he said.
Madhu Prasad, retired Delhi University teacher and member of the non-government All India Forum for Right to Education, opposed the NEP’s recommendation for shifting Anganwadi centres closer to schools.
“Now the Anganwadi centres are located in the neighbourhood of the children. If they are merged with schools, young children may not feel comfortable travelling so far. This will affect their preparedness for entry to Class I,” Prasad said.
Last updated on 30 Sep 2023
