PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION (ECCE) in HIMACHAL PRADESH

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is considered to be a precursor to school education. These preschool years impact a child’s educational life significantly and lay the foundation for effective school education in the later years. Effective ECCE leads to qualitative enrolment in higher grades, a reduction in dropout rate and also helps children to acquire foundational literacy and numeracy in early grades.

NEP 2020 has envisaged an expansion of early childhood education institutions and lays emphasis on inclusion of economically weaker sections. The policy focuses on children’s physical and motor, cognitive, socio-emotional-ethical, cultural/artistic, communication and early language, literacy and numeracy development skills.

With a specific focus on ECCE, the NEP has made its intent clear for strengthening foundational learning. Successful implementation of these long pending interventions will lead to qualitative improvement in foundational literacy and numeracy among early-grade learners. This will then eventually prove to be one of the most significant contributors to school education in general and early-grade education in particular.

Emphasis on ECCE in NEP has the potential to offer wide ranging developmental benefits for early-grade learners across India.

Optimal development of child’s potential along with laying of foundation for all round development of children is ensured through Early Childhood Care and Education. The overall aim is to create a conducive environment for the early grade learners which promotes their holistic development and has contributions from all the stakeholders including parents, teachers and the community.

Early Childhood Care and Education Objectives:

• To ensure a good foundation for every child's physical and motor development.
• To develop healthy eating habits, wellness routines, hygiene standards, and self-help abilities.
• To ensure that every child feels valued, respected, safe, and secure as s/he grows and develops a healthy socio-emotional environment.
• To provide children the tools they need to communicate effectively and encourage interested and expressive language.
• To enable a continuous transition from home to an ECCE facility and further to formal schooling.
• To sharpen children’s aesthetic sense.
• To arouse children’s curiosity and help them to understand their immediate environment.
• To give children opportunities for self-expression. This will encourage them to be independent and creative.

Pre-Primary (ECCE) in Himachal Pradesh:

Government of Himachal Pradesh started Pre-Primary classes in 3391 Primary Schools across the state in the financial year 2018-19 in the first phase. Over the years, schools from different districts have been added in a phased manner. Currently, Pre-Primary intervention is operational in selected 6028 primary schools of the state with approximately 50,158 children being enrolled in these classes.

In Himachal Pradesh, Pre-Primary classes are run in two kinds of setup. These are primarily Anganwadi co-located with Primary School and Pre-Primary running in Primary school premises.  Presently 6297 Pre-Primary classes are operational in Primary Schools across the state. All these schools are duly supported with academic and infrastructure support. Trained JBT/Primary teachers who have undergone intensive Capacity Building by Samagra Shiksha run these classes throughout the state.

Key Resource Person/Master Trainers in Pre-Primary (Core Group):

Effective implementation of any intervention is only ensured when an ably trained resource group offers creative suggestions for betterment of the program. For Pre-Primary in Himachal Pradesh, a group of master trainers/Key Resource Person has been created. This group has been functional since 2018 when Pre-Primary was initiated in the state.

Currently, the group consists of 120 members who include members from State Core Group and District Core Group. While the State Core Group consists of State Pre-Primary Coordinator along with representatives from Pratham, the District Core Group consists of District Pre-Primary Coordinator, BRCCs/CHTs, selected teachers and team members from Pratham from the respective district. This core group has envisaged some key responsibilities to maintain the effectiveness of the programme:

• Planning and execution of capacity building of teachers at district level
• Mentoring/Monitoring and follow-up of the program
• Implementation at the field level

Other Important Documents/Links
1. List of Approved Schools for Pre-Primary Classes for recurring grant w.e.f. F/Y 2018-19 to 2024-25

2. List of Approved Schools for Pre-Primary Classes for recurring grant under Samagra Shiksha for the Financial Year 2025-26
3. Pre-Primary Material and Content 
4. पहली शिक्षक-माँ

5. Activities Conducted/Undertaken in 2023-24