Papers & the Presenters
South Asia
A Publication on Early Childhood Development Issue No. 3 08 December 2010
Begins with Commitment Towards Development for All Children
“The Bangladeshi Government is
committed to introducing pre-primary
classes in the education system for 0-6
year olds to make them mentally and
physically prepared for the primary
schooling by 2012”, announced the
Bangladesh Minister for Primary and
Mass Education Dr.Ashraful Alam. He
was speaking as the Chief Guest of the
First South Asia Regional Conference on
Early Childhood Development. This
three-day international conference held
on 7-9 December 2010, was
inaugurated on Tuesday morning at
Bangabandhu International Conference
Centre (BICC) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The
regional conference, the first of its kind,
is hosted by the Bangladesh ECD
Network (BEN) and Asia Pacific Regional
Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC).
The Minister added that ECD plays a
crucial role in building a better future
for all children. He hoped that the
government would be able to provide
pre-school facilities of pre-school
throughout the country. As Bangladesh
about to take a big step in investing
early in children’s development,
Face to Face
Pg.4
Dr.
Gulam Mostafa
Children’s Performance at the Conference Inauguration
Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development
AKFB Reception & Conference inauguration
Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development
Conference On ECD
Bangladesh will benefit from this child development”, the Secretary
conference. added.
Tarikul Islam ,Secretry ,Ministry of The Executive Director of the Campaign
Women and Children Affaris said that for Popular Education (CAMPE) and
the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, former Adviser to the Caretaker
Sheikh Hasina has instructed the Government Rasheda K Chowdhory
government to focus on women and said that the media can play a great role
children related matters, to create an in achieving ECD goals.
enabling environment for them.
The inaugural ceremony was presided
“We have to change our mindset to over by Dr. Manzoor Ahmed,
ensure gender equality and inclusive Chairperson of the Bangladesh Early
Pg.5 Album Pg.7
AKFB Reception
& Conference
Inauguration
The first ever regional conference on
ECD in South Asia kicked off with
dozens of colorfully dressed children
singing songs in different South Asian
languages and the waving the flags of
8 SAARC countries.
A large group of children age 4-6
were seen with the flags of different
countries: Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan,
India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Srilanka and the Maldives. They
walked through the audience in the
crowded hall and ended up on the
main stage while music was played in
the background.
The young performers were organized and trained by the Bangladesh Shishu Academy, an
institution established by the Bangladesh government to promote cultural excellence among
children. They were learners from different schools in Dhaka. The troupe of 40 children was co-
coordinated by a teacher of the Bangladesh Academy, Khoda Boksh Sanu and his daughter
Sovvota.
During the children’s performance, the two large LCD projection screens beside the main stage
showed images from different SAARC countries.
Organised by
Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No.
Album
Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No.
Papers & the Presenters
Regional
Conference
on
Early childhood
Development
2010
Childhood Network (BEN).
The Minister also launched the BEN
online database and ARNEC advocacy
booklet at the ceremony.
The second plenary session was
moderated by Caroline Arnold, Co
Director of Education at the Aga Khan
Foundation (Education). Manzoor
Ahmed presented the ECD history and
development facts of Bangladesh. His
presentation highlighted early ECD
initiatives international commitment to
Bangladesh, national experiences, the
evolution of practices and the creation
of BEN. He also focused on the current
status of the pre-school initiative and
the challenges of ECD in Bangladesh.
Junko Miyahara of Asia Pacific Regional
Network for Childhood-ARNEC also
presented on the topic of Networking
at Regional Level for Early Childhood
Development.
In the afternoon of the first day of the
conference there were three concurrent
sessions, one on ECD policy advocacy
and networking and two on program
transition, quality, content, models and
innovation.
Profile Corner
Tour de
Old Dhaka
1 Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development
Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development
Dr.Ng Soo Boon
Head of Early Childhood Care & Education Sector
Ministry of Education, Malaysia
Chandra Gunawardena
Professor of Education of Open University
of Sri Lanka.
Khadija Khan
General Manager of
Aga Khan Education
Services, Pakistan
social, moral and cognitive development.
From this conference, I want to learn new ideas from other partner countries that
will help me to develop materials on ECD.
Savitri Ray
National Coordinator of FORCES (Forum for Crèche and Child Care Services), India
5 Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development
Chandra Gunawardena
Gender Discrimination in Early Years: Case of Sri Lanka
Chandra Gunawardena, B.A, M.A (Cey.), Ph. D. (La Trobe), D.
Litt (OUSL) is Emeritus Professor of Education, Open
University of Sri Lanka. She has also served in the
University of Colombo and the University of Peradeniya, Sri
Lanka. She was the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and
Social Sciences and also of the Faculty of Education of the Open University. Her
research interests are gender, higher education, teacher education and
distance education. She has published several books, including some
published by IIEP (UNESCO), DFID, UNICEF and CENWOR and has contributed to
research studies sponsored by DFID, SIDA, World Bank and ILO and has
published a large number of research articles in several refereed journals.
Sri Lanka occupies a unique position among South Asian countries due to
the high achievement of women in literacy, participation
in education and entry into @ higher education. In 2007, girls’
participation in primary Ca rn ival education was 88.4% and boys’
98.7% and in secondary 11.30-13.00 education above boys’ (89.5%)
being 94.3%. More girls are in undergraduate education
than boys – 52.8% as against 47.2%. Except in Engineering, in all the
other disciplines more than 40% of those enrolled are women. UNDP in 2006
declared that in building the capacities of women Sri Lanka has performed
the best.
Nearly 80% of children are reported as enrolled in pre-schools by 2006.
Ninety per cent of the girls and 89% of boys enrolled in Grade 1 had
attended some form of organized Early Childhood program. Yet in
employment, women continue to hold a subordinate position, especially in
senior level decision-making positions, technical and non-traditional
professional fields and politics. The mismatch between educational
achievement and outcomes is interpreted as a result of gender socialization
at family and school levels.
Dhirendra Lamsal
An Insight of Innovative Early Care and Education
Program Implemented in Public/Private ECD Centers
in Nepal
Mr. Dhirendra Lamsal established International Child
Resource Institute in Nepal in the year 2004. He provides
leadership to several programs which aims at serving
children at most risk and their families in Nepal. He has
been providing technical assistance to the Network of Children, Prisoners and
Dependant (NCPD) from March 2003 and continues to play a central role in
its development. Mr. Lamsal is one of the prominent NGO management
experts having multifaceted knowledge of early childhood care and
development.
This paper will provide a complete insight into the transformation of dull, un-
stimulating, teacher ’s centric, rote-memorizing and
conventional teaching @ practices into
meaningful and creative Media Bazaar learning environment for the
a joyful,
young children. ICRI-Nepal 11.30-13.00 piloted a model called the
“whole school approach” as a key guiding tool for delivery of
this program and these were successfully tested with fourteen key steps in
eighteen public/private schools (ECD centres) networked under ICRI-Nepal.
The paper will further focus on how ECD-pedagogy could be transformed
into daily care and education of young children with concurrent focus on
how holistic development of a young child is possible in a poor resource
setting. The community driven methods (self diagnosed and medication) to
respond to the program implementation level challenges will remain centre
of discussion in this presentation. Likewise, the process of taking care of
young children at homes and their further education in school (ECD) set-up
will be discussed by highlighting major gaps to be bridged by the parents at
homes and the ECD facilitators at the school environment. The before and
after scenario of this innovative program will also be illustrated with sharing
of individual successful case study of a few children served by ICRI-Nepal.
Dr. Shamim Ferdous
Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation. Screenings of
Children are the pre-requisite of Early Intervention in
an Inclusive Children Care Setting
[Dr. Shamim Ferdous is the Executive Director of
Bangladesh of Protibondhi Foundation. She recieved her
Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) from Chittagong University
and has also done a Diploma in Child Health from Dhaka University. More
than 9 articles of Dr. Ferdous have been published in national and
international journals. She has also worked as a World Bank consultant in
Ethiopia.
As a member of the steering committee of ARNEC, I
am joining this conference. It’s a regional
conference, that’s why so many people from
different countries have gathered here to share their
experience and ideas on early childhood
development. I hope I will see more networking in
South Asian countries that they will work together &
always keep in touch. "
We have a Faculty of Education in our university and there is
a department of ECD and Primary Education in the faculty.
We offer training, advanced training and diploma of ECD for
teachers. We also have study centres in all parts of Sri Lanka
where we provide audio and video materials to make people
aware of the development of early childhood.
The conference is giving us an opportunity to share
experiences with other partners and develop network. It will
help me to learn a lot from other countries and utilize the
knowledge in my own country.
Aga Khan Education Services has been working on
ECD since 2001. We work with children from
t0-8 years old and mothers, particularly pregnant mothers.
We arrange workshops, seminars and discussions with
parents and caregivers to make them aware of the
children’s physical, mental, social and cognitive
development.
We also train teachers on ECD. We keep our classrooms
child friendly. The classrooms have large space and learning
materials. In a classroom there are 30 children and two
teachers, one teacher is trained on ECD and the other one is
his/her assistant. The teacher follows a daily routine,
develops portfolio for each child and monitors the child’s
My forum works on advocacy networking on ECCD, i.e. early
childhood care and development. Our motto is to involve
the government in the development of children. Rearing a
child is not the responsibility only of his/her family,
particularly the mother. The state should also take the
responsibility as well. “FORCES” was founded in
1989 to act as a pressure group. We are committed to the survival and
development of the young child and the mother. Our programmes include
day care services, food security, maternity entitlements, social security and
pre-school education.
I am attending this conference to widen networking and learn advocacy
practices from other partners.
Global experiences demonstrate that early childhood interventions have
many benefits for cognitive and psychosocial development.
The focus of the study @ indicates to screen all children in
childcare centre (low socio Ca rn ival economic background) before
enrollment for age 11.30-13.00 appropriate intervention in
Inclusive setting. A total of 25 children from a Day Care
Centre of Mirpur, Section-7 (Garments Worker families) with age
range 4 months to 7 years were selected from urban slum population. As the
mothers are working from early morning till midnight, they have to keep
their children in the Daycare centers with least guidance. These centers
usually lack opportunities to provide domain based stimulation and thereby
education.
25 children were assessed by the validated screening tool Rapid Neuro
Developmental Assessment (RNDA) by the professionals to identify the
children at risk before providing any intervention. Among 25 children, 16
were at risk of which maximum children were found with mild cognitive
delay and speech delay which was also reconfirmed by the standard
psychological tests (Bailey’s Infant Development Scale, Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Test) and further comprehensive neurodevelopmental diagnosis
and management were provided with well trained professionals.
Meena Narula
Coalition Building For Early Childhood Care And
Development: Aga Khan Foundation’s Experience In
An Urban Revival Context (Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti)
[Chandra Gunawardena, B.A, M.A (Cey.), Ph. Meena is a
Senior Program Officer at Aga Khan Foundation (India).
She has over 16 years of experience in design,
monitoring and evaluation of social development programs. She worked
closely with the national, state and local governments and for international
funding agencies including SIDA, EC, ECHO, CIDA and the World Bank to
support baselines, social assessments and evaluation of programs in areas of
ECCD, elementary education, nutrition and health. She worked with local
communities and governments to use social planning tools for mapping
poverty, deprivation and vulnerability issues and led sector specific
assessment studies.]a
The social initiatives aim to improve the quality of life of the marginalised
population in Hazrat Nizamuddin basti through a life
cycle approach. The ECCD
@
ia Bazaar
initiatives in Hazrat Med 13.00 Nizamuddin basti view child
11.30-
development needs in a comprehensive framework as
defined in the National Government’s Integrated Child
Development Scheme (ICDS). The first phase of this initiative capitalises on
the links between urban improvements and upgrading spaces as well as
education, health and nutrition. It aims at creating spaces for effective access
to services by children and care givers. It seeks involvement of mothers to
support functioning of the anganwadi centres established under ICDS and
adoption of child care practices at home. To ensure home-preschool-school
transition, the project is working with the existing Municipal Corporation
primary school.
Dr. Nilofar Vazir
Empowering Schools for Learning: From Policy
Improvement to Effective Practice
Dr Nilofar Vazir joined AKU-IED in 1994 as an Academic
Consultant. She has served the Institution as Coordinator
of Certificate in Education and Masters in Education
Programs at IED. Dr Vazir completed her PhD in Teacher
Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of
Toronto, (OISE, University of Toronto ) in 2003. Before joining AKU-IED, she
served as the Regional Director of a city school system. She has several years
of experience teaching Early Childhood Education (ECE), both at Montessori
and Primary levels. At AKU-IED, she is currently teaching Certificate, Advanced
Diploma, MEd and PhD Courses.
Early childhood is the most critical period when cognitive stimulation,
balanced nutrition, and emotional attachment all work
together to help children @ grow and develop into
successful adults. However, Windy Town teachers in Pakistan are unaware
.00
about this significant 11.30-13 investment of children in early
years. Hence, there is a growing need to identify
innovative directions that assure the continuity of a creative, robust and
dynamic future for all children. To address this need, the Early Years Learning
Association (EYLA),a voluntary organization of teachers was established in
May 2008 under Professional Teachers’ Association Network at Aga Khan
University – Institute for Educational Development as a commitment to
provide a platform for early year's practitioners, parents and other relevant
stakeholders as an ongoing effort to focus attention on the significance of
the early years for children's learning and all aspects of their development.
Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No.
Voices
Niumaath Shafees
Head of Education programme Section of Education
Development Centres Ministry of Education, the Maldives
Education Development Centres provide in-service teacher
training and curriculum development for early ages. We
also arrange media campaign. We have a project of child-
friendly pre-school. It is a non-formal education project.
We are at the conference as we want to expand our
network. We would like to get introduced to other partners
and get their support. We hope that we will get to know
what activities other countries are doing on ECD and learn
from them and utilize the learning for our country.
MS.Mahmuda Akter
Head of ECD Resource Centre, IED, BRACU and Member Secretary BEN
I think everything is going well at the conference, so we
are happy. We are very cautious about putting forward
our country’s image perfectly to the participants through
different additional activities during this conference. We
are glad that the popular TV channels Desh TV and
Channel I are organizing special discussions on ECD on
the occasion of this conference. The media are helping us
tremendously to make this conference and the issue of
ECD better known to the broader public.
Md.Shahidullah
Member of ECDRC, IED, BRACU Responsible for international participants
Representatives of many countries including Canada,
the UK, Australia, Switzerland, the USA, Canada, Nigeria,
Denmark and Sweden are taking part in the
conference. We have invited 43 foreigners from
different countries as experts while another 63
foreigners have joined the conference on their own
initiative. Of course, several participants have come
from the South Asian countries. We are happy that they
have all reached Dhaka on time.
Roxanan Khanom
Member of ECDRC, IED, BRACU Rresponsible for invited foreign guests
19 organizations working for early childhood
development in Bangladesh and other countries are
exhibiting ECD related materials during this conference.
Among those 5 organizations have come from India,
Singapore and the Maldives, while the rest are based in
Bangladesh. Our 28 volunteers are working hard day and
night to make this conference not only a space for
intellectual exchange, but also to make it a pleasant and
comfortable experience for all the participants.
Azad Mallick
Multi Task Patharghata, Barguna Bangladesh.
I am attending this conference to enlighten
myself further about the ECD programs of other South
Asian countries- what they are doing, what’s their future
plans and work experience.
My expectation from the conference is, when I go back
home, I can get some valuable information which will help
us to reduce our lack on ECD program delivery. I hope we
can use the information and experience gathered from
this conference for the wellbeing of our community.
Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No.
Prof. Shahnawaz Bin Tabib
Capacity development of medical professionals on early
childhood development: Bangladesh Experience
[Professor S M Shahnawaz Bin Tabib obtained fellowship
in Paediatrics from BCPS in 1987.He has been working in
the field of child development and child neurology since
last 15 years and working for early child hood
development for last five years. Dr Shahnawaz has been working as Professor
of Paediatrics in ICMH since 2006 and at present he is the Executive Director
and focal person of the early learning for child development project of
Institute of child and Mother health, Matuail, Dhaka-1362.]
Later The Institute of Child and Mother Health is involved in the development
of modules on ECD in the curriculum of nurses,
undergraduate medical @ studies and paediatric
postgraduate studies. TOTs Windy Town were given to the ICMH faculty
.00
and others institutes. 11.30-13 Training were provided to the
service providers working in medical college, district hospital,
upazilla hospital for the reorganization their facilities into child friendly
environment and the dissemination of ECD messages. A guideline has been
developed for hospital indoor & outdoor and day care centre to assess the
SCFLE status in the facilities. A training manual has also been developed; play
corners have been developed in 3 medical colleges through ELCD project.
Dr. Rekha Sharma Sen
Capacity Building and Professional Development in ECCE
through Distance Education Mode
[Dr. Rekha Sharma Sen is Associate Professor, Faculty of
Child Development, at the School of Continuing
Education, Indira Gandhi National Open University
(IGNOU). Her areas of teaching and research are ECCE,
Child Development, Teacher Education, Creativity, Disability and Gender. Her
work involves developing and implementing distance education programs
ranging from Awareness-cum-Training Programs for Parents of children with
disabilities, Certificate Programs in Early Childhood Special Education,
Diploma Program in ECCE to Masters’ Program in Child Development.]
This paper describes the curricula, structure and implementation of four
academic programs through the distance education.
Three of these programs are @ aimed at professional
development - the first aims Media Bazaar to develop the capacities of
.30
learners to work as teachers 14.00-15 in regular ECE centres while the
other two aim to equip the learners to work with children
with specific disabilities – cerebral palsy and mental retardation. The fourth
aims at capacity building of parents and family members to provide
stimulation and care for all round development of their disabled child. All the
programs are innovate in terms of concepts included and content
transaction methodologies. Feedback from the fourth program reveals gains
by parents in terms of understanding their child better, implementing
appropriate methods of teaching, bringing about positive changes in the
child’s behaviour and enhanced confidence in their ability to look after their
child.
Amara Amarasinghe
Early Childhood Care and Development for Child –Friendly
Homes in Emergency Situations
Ms. Amara Amarasinghe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts
from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and formerly
was a member of the Sri Lanka Education Administrative
Service. She was a professional Trained Teacher and a
Teacher Trainer. She served at the Curriculum Development Centre of the
Ministry of Education, and in the National Institute of Education (NIE), as a
Curriculum Developer, text book writer and a book illustrator. Amara worked
for UNICEF and Save the Children Sri Lanka and worked as consultant to
Cambodia and Myanmar. She was appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as
a Member of the National Education Commission of Sri Lanka, and as a
Member of the Academic Affairs Board of the NIE.
The undernourished children from 0 – 5 years living as internally displaced
persons (IDPs) were provided with a special
nutritious meal, taking care @ of the aspect of physical
development by the Carnival government. But as far as
.00-15.30 psychosocial and emotional
cognitive, psychomotor, 14
d eve l o p m e nt s we re concerned, the children of this
age group were neglected. Having being traumatized by the war,
2 Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No.
ECD Country Profile
Maldives
The Maldives or Maldive Islands, officially Republic of Maldives, is an
island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-
six atolls stretching in a north-south direction off India's Lakshadweep
islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago. It stands in
the Laccadive Sea, about seven hundred kilometers (435 mi) south-west
of Sri Lanka.
This chain of islands is the centrally located archipelago among the
Lakshadweep-Maldives-Chagos group of islands, which are in reality
the tops of a vast undersea submarine mountain range, in the Indian
Ocean and the Arabian Sea. The atolls of the Maldives encompass a
territory spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers, making it one
of the most dispersed countries in the world in geographic terms. It
features 1,192 islets, of which two hundred are inhabited. The Republic
of Maldives's capital and largest city is Malé, with a population of
103,693 (2006). It is located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll, in
the Kaafu Atoll. It is also one of the Administrative divisions of the
Maldives. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient
Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located.
The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in both population and area.
With an average ground level of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, it
is the lowest country on the planet. It is also the country with the lowest
highest point in the world, at 2.3 metres (7 ft 7 in).
TOUR de OLD DHAKA
The existence
of settlement in
the area that is
now Dhaka
dates from the
7th century. The
city area was
ruled by the
B u d d h i s t
kingdom
Kamarupa and
the Pala Empire
before passing
to the control
of the Hindu
Sena dynasty in
the 9th century.
The name of
the city may
have derived
after the
establishment
of the Goddess
Dhakeshwari's
temple by Ballal
Sena in the
12th century.
Dhaka and its
surrounding
area was
identified as
B e n g a l l a
around that
period. The
town itself
consisted of a
few market
centers like
6 Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development
Face to Face
Dr. Md.
What are the most pressing needs in ECD, another challenge is creating How do you balance a need for
Bangladesh’s ECD sector? access to quality centre-based early standardization as well as the need for
the parents were not in an adequate state of mind to provide age-
Golam
learning. Even though the context-specific programming?
appropriate stimulation and guidance to these children. Sarvodaya, We need to figure out how to reach
therefore, took timely action to empower the parents with knowledge, skills the maximum number of families
government plans to start a pre-
I believe in the use of core standards,
and attitudes to develop the potential of their children. The program was school in each primary school, this
Mostafa
with appropriate information, so they with flexible application of content.
designed to use much of the available resources. IDPs themselves were a
resource, as many of them were motivated to assist as facilitators. Parents
can understand the importance of won’t meet the needs of all children,
There should be a basic curriculum,
ECD and its comprehensive nature in especially those living in
were another resource, being with their children most of the time, which which can be adapted as needed to
disadvantaged areas. Separate
enabled the renewal of their role as first teachers of their children. Daily meeting children’s health, social, and the specific needs of the community,
activities were a resource to identify the embodied components of academic needs, and also further strategies and operational
such as tribal communities. All
improve parents’ own capacities in mechanisms are absolutely needed to
knowledge, skills and attitudes. curricular content must be
providing age-appropriate care to address this issue. In addition,
developmentally appropriate -- that
their young children at home. It is adequate financial resources, which
Faruq Faisel is, work towards stimulating the
also critical for young children to have are required for establishing child-
cognitive, psychological, emotional,
access to center-based early learning friendly early learning centers, for
ECD for Children at Risk and the Role of Community Media and social development of children. It
(i.e., daycare center, playgroup, pre-
in Bangladesh developing and supplying is good to note that under the
school). A good way to do this is by
appropriate teaching and learning leadership of the National Curriculum
developing programs involving both
Mr. Faruq Faisel is currently working as the Canadian materials, and for the hiring and and Textbook Board, a group of
the health sector, which has more
Program Team Leader, Bangladesh for the Early Childhood training of teachers, have not yet experts comprised of representatives
Development Support Program Bangladesh, which is an interaction with 0-3 year olds, and the
education sector, which interacts with been allocated by the government. In from government and NGOs are
Aga Khan Foundation project supported by Canadian
Bangladesh, many NGOs are running currently working on preparing a
International Development Agency and the Aga Khan Foundation Canada. children 3 years and older. Also,
Faisel has been working in the field of development and project The ECD Advisor for the ECDSP-B media, civil society, NGOs, and ECD programs with financial support national curriculum for pre-primary
education. This involves reviewing all
management for more than two decades. He has considerable expertise in professional groups like pediatricians from international agencies which, in
project of Aga Khan Foundation
capacity building, advocacy, policy dialogue, GO-CSO collaboration, social can and should play strong the long-run, are not sustainable. standards being practiced by NGOs as
marketing, and campaigning. Bangladesh. A founding member well as adapting global standards to
supportive roles to promote ECD as a However, these NGOs have gained
of the Bangladesh ECD Network
movement in Bangladesh. rich experiences in developing the particular needs of Bangladesh.
(BEN), Dr. Mostafa, a physician
This paper is based on experiences gained and observations made through materials and training teachers. This curriculum will also include
What are the main challenges the ECD
and public health specialist, has a Therefore, collaborative efforts by the operational guidelines and
implementing and managing an Early Childhood community in Bangladesh should focus
mechanisms for coordination with
Development Support @ Program – Bangladesh (ECDSP,B). long history of expertise in ECD. government and NGOs are one of the
on?
It is a 5 years project Windy Town designed to improve access to best ways to meet the challenge of primary schools to aid the smooth
.30 He has worked for UNICEF for
and quality of ECD programs 14.00-15 for the families of poor children Just as one of our biggest challenges effective and sustainable ECD
and successful transition of children
over two decades.
in Bangladesh. The program works with a number of partner from pre-primary to primary schools.
is to reach and inform parents about programming in Bangladesh.
organizations. The ECDSP-B is gaining insightful and valuable experience in
Sponsor's
working with at-risk children. The program delivery areas of the partners of
Shishu Academy
ECDSP-B include:
# Children in Natural Disaster Prone Areas: Borguna, Barisal
Profile
# Children in a Social Excluded Situation : Sylhet- Tea Plantations
# Children in Factories: Garment Worker Mothers: Chittagong and Dhaka
The paper intends to highlight the lessons learned through delivering ECD to
at-risk children in these three areas and will share the risks identified. The
The Bangladesh Shishu Academy was interactive care learning environments in centers,
paper will also initiate discussions on new ideas and ways forward related to
established in 1976 with the view to the for cognitive homes and communities and develop
the role of policy advocacy with the Government (National and Local
development of the physical, mental, and psycho- their cognitive, emotional and linguistic
Government) and Private Sector (factory owners and teas estate owners). It
cultural and latent talent of children s o c i a l abilities to communicate, socialize and
will propose use of community media as an innovative tool to overcome
and thus build up the future nation d e ve l o p m e n t learn, and become better prepared for
challenges in ECD delivery for children at risk. Media forms such as the newly
builders as efficient citizens. Even 13 through center school.”
initiated community radio movement in Bangladesh and strategic use of the
years before the Child Right Convention based learning Key Components of the Project : ELDP
traditional media (folk songs, street drama, jatra) can play a critical role in
regarding child security and welfare by do better at activities will be implemented under 4
contributing to sustainable change for the benefit of the isolated and
the United Nations was adopted in primary school key components supporting the overall
marginalized communities in Bangladesh
1989, Bangladesh Shishu Academy resulting in project achievements:
played an important role in the h i g h e r 1. Center based early learning,
Saima Khalid development and national interest of enrolments, less 2. The Promotion of interactive care and
the children of Bangladesh. repetition, and safe child-friendly environments in
fewer dropouts. homes and communities;
An Integrated Approach to Material Development for the At present the Bangladesh Shishu During the joint 3. Social mobilization and program
Early Years Academy is an autonomous institution
under the Ministry of Women and
C o u n t r y
Program cycle
communication
4. The Development and strengthening
Photo : Zul Mukhida
Ms Saima Khalid is a faculty member of Aga Khan Children Affairs. Its activities are run by 2001-2005, the of early learning components of
University - Institute for Educational Development. She a 13-member board of management. important part of the activities of Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and partners’ systems and structures.
Bangladesh Shishu Academy. UNICEF implemented Early Childhood Sponsoring Ministry:
has joined AKU-IED in 2007 in the area of Early Childhood
The BSA is the only national institution To promote and provide cultural, Development (ECD) project to Ministry of Women and Children’s
Education and Development. Currently she is engaged in
working for children’s cultural and scientific and recreational activities for empower caregivers to create safe, Affairs
teaching Certificate Programs and Continuous Professional Education
mental development. The main children. secure, stimulating and enabling Implementing Agency:
Programs in different regions of Pakistan. She has completed her Advanced activities of the Shishu Academy are In board sense, to develop physical, environment for age appropriate Bangladesh Shishu Academy
Diploma in Human Development in ECD from Aga Khan University – Human
operated by the central office. It has mental and moral values of the children nurturing of their children which Development Partner:
Development Program and also has a diploma in Montessori training. She has
branch offices in all the districts. For the of Bangladesh through various promotes the cognitive, emotional and
done her Masters in both Education and English literature. smooth operation of the branch offices activities. social development of the child from # To take initiatives to fulfill demands
there is an operational committee Regular activities of Bangladesh Shishu conception to 5 years. related to shelter, education, health and
headed by the District Commissioner. Academy Based on the demand and ‘lessons nutrition for the disadvantaged,
Over the past 10 years, the significance of early childhood education has There is a local committee headed by # National Children’s Competition learned’ in the first phase of the project, helpless, street children and make them
received recognition from the government of Pakistan (3 – the UNO to operate the children’s # Monsoon (Rainy Season) Competition: the Early Learning for Child independent
5 years children). However, @ little has been done for children activities in every upazila. Thus it has # Celebration of National & Development project has been taken # To adopt programs on early learning
aged 5 – 7 years Carnival been made possible to start an effective International Occasion: which will focus on future early for child development
.30
(classes I and II) who 14.00-15 similarly need a stimulating and process to bring all the children of the # Bangladesh Shishu Academy Award childhood interventions through the # To implement the project titled
country under the activities of the # Pre-Primary education establishment of early learning centers Advocacy Awareness Program on Girl
child-responsive learning environment. To attend to this
need, Aga Khan University – Institute for Educational Development has taken academy. # Cultural Training and it will act as a platform for the Child Right to raise awareness among
# Talent Fair (Ananda Mela) promotion of caregiver’s education. all about the girl child rights.
the initiative of developing learning material for classes I and II with the
The Bangladesh Shihsu Academy is # Children’s Film Previous interventions suggest this is a # To start computer training program
support of Aga Khan Foundation under its Early Childhood Program,
working in different areas for the overall # Education Tour more effective and efficient way to for the children all over the country
“Releasing Confidence and Creativity.” An action research approach was
development of the children. The areas promote early childhood development. # To offer scholarship for poor and
applied for material development. Needs analysis was conducted to reflect
are music, dance, painting, acting, Global experiences clearly street children
upon the existing teaching practice and identify the resources required by musical instrument playing, recitation, The overall objective of the Early
demonstrates that early childhood # To establish branches of Shishu
children. This was followed by National Curriculum and text book review. sports, information technology, Learning for Development Project
interventions for cognitive and psycho- Academy in all upzillas of the country
Next, the material was planned and developed under four themes, children’s film, children’s publications, social development have many benefits (ELDP) is: gradually
emphasizing an integrated approach, active learning strategies and the use children’s library, children museums, – especially for the most disadvantaged “Children aged 0-5 participate in age- # To build own building of Bangladesh
of locally available resources. Finally it was implemented with the help of debate and more. Recently early children. Children who in their early appropriate interactive care and early Shishu Academy in every district.
local teachers in real classrooms. childhood development has become an years receive age appropriate learning activities in safe child friendly
Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No. 4
3
Profile Agenda
Today's Agenda
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Nepal
Entree of Paediatrics & Focal Person of ELCD project,
The Official name of Nepal is the Federal 09:30-11:00 Institute of Child and Mother Health (ICMH),
Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a Plenary Session IV Bangladesh
landlocked country in South Asia. It is Moderator: Professor Dr. Naila Zaman, Head
of Child Development and Neurology Unit, Harmony
located in the Himalayas and bordered to
Shishu Hospital, Dhaka 13:00-14:00
the north by the People's Republic of Lunch Break
China, and to the south, east, and west by Keynote Presentation 1: Brain Research and This special edition of “First 6” is published daily on the
the Republic of India. With an area of Neuroscience Media Bazaar occasion of the ‘South Asia Regional Conference on
147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) Prof. Pratibha Singhi,Chief Pediatric 14.00-15.30 Early Childhood Development 2010: Learning,
Neurology and Neurodevelopment
and a population of approximately 30 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd Networking and Coalition Building for ECD’ held in
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education Concurrent Session VII Dhaka, Bangladesh on December 7-9, 2010.
largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country.
And Research,India Theme: Capacity building and professional
Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the country's largest metropolis. development
Editor
Nepal has a rich geography. The mountainous north has eight of the world's Keynote Presentation 2: Breastfeeding and ECD Moderator: Mr. Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed,
Faruq Faisel
ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, Dr. M.Q.K. Talukder, Chairman of Centre for Women Joint Program Director, PEDP-II, Bangladesh
called Sagarmatha in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft and Child Health, Dhaka, Bangladesh Rapporteur: Dr. Adarsh Sharma, Professor,
Advisory Editor
CECED Abmedkar, University of New Delhi, India
(6,096 m) above sea level. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized.
Harmony
Salimah Kassam
11:00-11:30 Presentation 1(A): A Collaborative Effort to
By some measures, Hinduism is practised by a larger majority of people in Tea Break Develop Professional ECD Workforce in Bangladesh. Consulting Editor
Masuda Bhatti
Nepal than in any other nation. Buddhism, though a minority faith in the Dr. Nishat F. Rahman, Academic Program
Carnival Coordinator, ECDRC, IED, BRAC University, Bangladesh
country, is linked historically with Nepal as the birthplace of the Buddha.
11.30-13.00 1(B): Capacity Building at the Field Level. Copy Editor
Many Nepali do not distinguish between Hinduism and Buddhism and Nyree Gracey
Mr. Tapan Kumar Das, Program Manager,
follow both religious traditions. There are 3 different Buddhist traditions: Concurrent Session IV CAMPE, Bangladesh
Himalayan Buddhism, Buddhism of Kathmandu Valley (mostly Mahayana Theme: Inclusion, Equity And Resources Subject Specialist Editor
and Vajrayana), and also the Theravada Buddhism. Moderator: Mr. A H M Noman Khan, Executive Presentation 2: Capacity Building and Rafat Sultana
Director, Center for Disability in Professional Development in ECCE through Fatema Khyrunnahar
Development (CDD), Bangladesh Distance Education Mode
About half of the population lives below the international poverty line of SMM Kabir
Rapporteur: Ms. Divya Lata, Senior Program Dr. Rekha Sharma Sen, Indira Gandhi National
Kerrie Proulx
$1.25 a day. A monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by Manager, Open Society Foundation, UK Open University, India
the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768, when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its
Coordinating Editor
many small kingdoms. In 2006, however, a decade-long People's Revolution Presentation 1: Gender Discrimination in Carnival Shekufeh Zonji
by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) along with several weeks of mass Early Years: Case of Sri Lanka 14.00-15.30
protests by all the major political parties of Nepal culminated in a peace Chandra Gunawardena, Emeritus Professor of
Language Editor
Education, Open University of Sri Lanka Concurrent Session VIII
accord, and the ensuing elections for the constituent assembly voted Suchitra Mallick
overwhelmingly in favor of the abdication of the last Nepali monarch
Theme: Program transition, quality, content,
model, innovation
Presentation 2: Screening of Children – the
Media Pool
Gyanendra Shah and the establishment of a federal democratic republic in pre-requisite of Early Intervention in an
Inclusive Child Care Setting
Moderator: Ms. Farida Akhtar, Child
Psychologist and Chief Executive, Inner Force,
Ashrafi Ferdousy Bithi
28 May 2008. The first President of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav, was sworn in
Dr. Shamim Ferdous, Executive Director, Bangladesh Abu Asif Shawon
on 23 July 2008. Fahmida Sharmin Shampa
Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation Rapporteur: Ms. Mehnaz Aziz , Chief
Sultana Ismet Zerin
Executive And Founding Director, Children's
Media Bazaar Global Network, Pakistan Tutul Naser
11.30-13.00 Md. Shaha Alam Kiron
Presentation 1: Early Childhood Care and Nure Alam Durjoy
Concurrent Session V Development for “Child Friendly Homes in
Published By :
Theme: Program transition, quality, content, Emergency Situations”
model, innovation Amara Amarasinghe, Advisor , ECCD, Child Early Childhood Development Support Programme-Bangladesh
Moderator: Prof. Veena Mistry, Vice- Development Unit, Sarvodaya Shramadana Project of Aga Khan Foundation
Lakshmi Bazar, Shankhari Bazar, Tanti 1874 and electricity was launched in
Chancellor, (Provost) Navrachana University,
Vadodara, India
Sangamaya, Sri Lanka
Bazar, Patuatuli, Kumartuli, Bania Nagar 1878. The Dhaka Cantonment was Rapporteur: Dr. Jena Derakhshani Hamadani, Presentation 2: An Integrated Approach to
and Goal Nagar. After the Sena established near the city, serving as a Head of Child Development Unit, ICDDR,B, Material Development for the Early Years
dynasty, Dhaka was successively ruled base for British and Bengali soldiers. Bangladesh Ms. Saima Khalid, Institute for Educational
by the Turkish and Pashtun governors Development, Aga Khan University, Pakistan
descending from the Delhi Sultanate Ahsan Manzil was once the palace of Presentation 1: Innovative Early Care and
before being taken by the Mughals in the Dhaka Nawab Family; it is now a Educational Practices in Windy Town
1608. Public/Private Schools in Nepal 14.00-15.30
museum.During the abortive partition
Dhirendra Lamsal, Country Program Director,
of Bengal in 1905, Dhaka was declared
of The development of townships and a International Child Resource Institute-Nepal Concurrent Session IX
to be the capital of the newly Theme: Program transition, quality, content,
significant growth in population came
established state of East Bengal and Presentation 2: Coalition Building for Early model, innovation
as the city was proclaimed the capital Assam, but Bengal was reunited in Childhood Care and Development Moderator: Dr. Xin Zhou, Professor, East China
(Rajmahal) of Bengal under Mughal 1911. Following the Partition of India in Ms. Meena Narula, Senior Program Officer, Normal University, China
rule in 1608. Mughal subahdar Islam 1947, Dhaka became the capital of East Aga Khan Foundation, India Rapporteur: Ms. Salimah Kassam, Program
Khan was the first administrator of the Director, Aga Khan Foundation Bangladesh
Pakistan. The city witnessed major
city. Khan named the town "Jahangir
Nagar" (City of Jahangir) in honor of
communal violence following the
Windy Town
11.30-13.00 Presentation 1: ECD for Children at Risk and the
Supported By :
partition of India. A large proportion of Role of Community Media in Bangladesh
the Mughal emperor Jahangir,
the city's Hindu population departed Concurrent Session VI Faruq Faisel, Canadian Program Team Leader
although this name was dropped soon
for India, while the city received a large Theme: Capacity building and professional ECDSP-B, Aga Khan Foundation, Bangladesh
after Jahangir's death. The main
influx of Muslims. As the center of development
expansion of the city took place under
regional politics, however, Dhaka saw Moderator: Ms. Siat Yeow Kok, Assistant Presentation 2: Community-Based Growth
Mughal general Shaista Khan.The city Director, Seed Institute, Singapore Monitoring and Promotion– A pilot project
an increasing number of political
then measured 19 by 13 kilometers (12
by 8 mi), with a population of nearly strikes and incidents of violence. The Rapporteur: Dr. Quamrul Hassan, Senior in Sub-urban and rural communities of
Consultant, Paediatrics, Apollo Hospital, Pakistan
one million people. The British East adoption of Urdu as the sole official Editorial Services
Bangladesh Dr. Ghazala Rafique, Human Development
language of Pakistan led to protest
India Company in 1765 gained right to Program, The Aga Khan University, Pakistan
collect revenue (Diwani right) and later marches involving large crowds. Presentation 1: Empowering schools for
took over governing in 1793 when the Known as the Bengali Language learning: Improving the capacity of school Harmony
Nawabs of Bengal were forced to Movement, the protests resulted in leaders and teachers in the early years of schooling. 15:30-16:00
Pakistani police firing which killed a Dr. Nilofar Vazir, Aga Khan University, Institute Tea Break
abdicate all their authority over
number of peaceful student for Educational Development (AKU-IED),
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and the city
Pakistan Harmony
passed on to total British control.The demonstrators. Throughout the 1950s
16:00-17:00
city's population shrank dramatically and 1960s, Dhaka remained a hotbed Presentation 2: Capacity building of medical Plenary Session V: Poster presentation
during this period as the prominence of political activity, and the demands profession on early childhood development: Highlights of ECD Programs
of Kolkata rose, but substantive for autonomy for the Bengali Bangladesh Experience. presented by posters.
development and modernisation population gradually gained Professor SM Shahnawaz Bin Tabib, Professor
momentum.
eventually followed. A modern civic
water supply system was introduced in
Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No. 7 Learning, Networking and Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development Issue No. 3 08 December 2010 Page No. 8