Himachal government to roll out early childhood care scheme

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said the government will soon launch a scheme to ensure overall growth of children aged between three and six. "This initiative highlights the state government's commitment to providing quality early childhood education and ensuring the holistic development and nurturing of the young minds in Himachal," he said in a statement issued here.

Under the scheme, the education department would implement a combination of all four Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) models recommended in the National Education Policy, 2020, Sukhu said.

Implementation strategy

These models include standalone anganwadis and anganwadi's co-located with primary schools, pre-primary schools covering children aged up to five or six co-located with existing primary schools and standalone pre-primary schools, he added. A total of 6,297 pre-primary sections in primary schools are currently being run by the state government, catering to around 60,000 children and 2,377 anganwadis that are co-located with these primary schools, the chief minister said.

ECC teachers would be engaged

He said under the 'Himachal Pradesh Early Childhood Care and Education Tutor Scheme', the state government would engage ECCE tutors for all 6,297 schools, adhering to the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) norms. He reiterated the state government's commitment to improving educational accessibility by ensuring quality education closer to students' homes, announcing that the recruitment of various categories of teachers will commence soon to prevent any disruption in studies due to teacher shortages.