HYDERABAD: In a bid to modernise anganwadis across the State and standardise the education they impart to preschoolers, the Department of Women Development and Child Welfare (WDCW) has initiated a first-of-its-kind programme to digitise the curriculum.
Considering the fact that a majority of anganwadi teachers have received education only upto Class X and were provided with limited training in comparison to their private-school counterparts, the Department is keen on digitising content and making video tutorials for the teachers.
The project is already underway as anganwadi teachers from Mahbubnagar district, along with experts from Jawahar Balbhavan, Andhra Mahila Sabha, etc., have not only designed scripts for the curriculum, but also begun shooting it.
"We are taking technical support from the State Institute of Education and Technology (SIET). SIET officials will edit and design the content for public consumption," said a senior official from the WDCW.
These short tutorial videos have incorporated the latest teaching techniques and standards followed elsewhere in the world. They will be made available in both audio and visual formats. "The teachers were supplied with FM radios along with a pendrive for educational rhymes; the audio content will be relayed through the same," explained the official.
The visual content will be sent across through the tabs that the teachers have been using to upload information on nutrition-related data. The project is crucial as the recent Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2019, states that there is a massive gap between the education imparted in anganwadis and the same in private-run preschools.
The children in the latter schools show varied learning levels, while anganwadi children lag behind. n"The project has been designed to help our educators teach better. In the first phase, the project will be taken up in Mahbubnagar district. If it gives good outcomes, it will be taken up further across the State" added Principal Secretary M Jagadeeshwar, Department of Women Development and Child Welfare.
Previous studies by Save the Children in 2018 had found that Telangana spent Rs 6,336 on a child who studies in an anganwadi every year. However, not much of this is spent on early-education unlike in private-run preschools where a larger sum amounting to anywhere between Rs 9,000- Rs 29,000 is spent to help the kids learn better.