Recommendations 120-125 reiterate the POA. In fact, none of the recommendations is new. Some of them almost repeat what the POA has said.

While coordination between Education and Women and Child Development in respect of pre-school education component and training is necessary, the responsibility for personnel training for ECCE should continue to rest with the training institutions and training centres developed by the Department of Women and Child Welfare.

Child centred teaching in primary schools and

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training of primary school teachers thereof has been dealt with under the appropriate chapter.

RECOMMENDATION 127 to 135

2.26 These recommendations together spell out how decentralisation and community involvement should be brought about in the ECCE. As they contain several important points, they are dealt with separately below:-

2.27 Recommendation 127 calls for all Centrally sponsored schemes in ECCE to be reshifted to States/UTs. This stand has been taken by the Committee not only in respect of ECCE, but for all Centrally sponsored schemes. It arose as we know out of a need to conform to the then approach paper to the 8th Plan. That approach paper having now been redrafted , perhaps the recommendations would no longer be considered important.

2.28 However, even on merits it is important to reject this recommendation soundly. Ostensibly, it has been made because the Committee finds that the ICDS has become regid, bureacratised and insensitive to local needs. That the same acquisition can be made against all plans and programmes run by the State Governments has not been taken into consideration. More important, however, is that consideration has not been given to the reasons why ICDS was first started as a Centrally sponsored scheme. Before recommending that the responsibility for child care and child development be givent to the State Governments, it is

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necessary to examine the trends of expenditure by States on programmes related to this subject and to consider whether either funds or a greater priority to ECCE would be obtained by such action. Traditionally, State Governments could not give adequate priority to programmes of child development and social welfare schemes. Commitments relating to implementation of Old Age Pensions, Juvenile Delinquent Act, The Prevention of Beggary Act, etc., regularly compete with child development programmes for allocation of funds. If ECCE is not relegated to the same position as other welfare schemes, it is imperative to provide funds from the Centre and give it the immunity from diversion of financial allocations that a Centrally sponsored scheme obtains.

2.29 Recommendation 128 is more or less reiteration of recommendation 115. Recommendation 129-130 elaborate the same position further.

2.30 On this issue, the point has already been made that community involvement in ECCE is also the position taken by the POA and that in pursuance of this approach, programmes are being devised to bring this participatory decision making into ECCE. Through recommendations 131- 133; the Committee has sought to link ECCE to the new management concept of educational complexes that it has developed. The role of the educational complexes and the feasibility of its taking over programme management has been discussed separately in the appropriate chapter. No

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repetition need be made here of the same argument. However, contradiction between these recommendations and recommendations 107- 109 may be pointed out; while here it gives control of ECCE to the educational complexes, there it emphasises that the Women and Child Development Department should be held accountable in all aspects of the implementation of ECCE and its operational design. Recommendations 134-135 again spell the concern of the Committee for implementation of the policy and going into specifics of an operational strategy that cannot be expected to find place in a policy statement.

Summary

ICDS should continue as a Centrally sponsored Scheme.

Involvement of community and voluntary organisations in ECCE's schemes is indeed to be encouraged.

In this regard programmes regarding community participation in ECCE have been designed in project documents such as Lok Jumbish and Bihar Education Project.

The role of ECCE vis-a-vis the educational complexes stands out in contradiction of recommendations 107 to 109. Recommendations 134 and 135 raise operation issues that cannot find a place in a policy framework.

RECOMMENDATIONS 136 to 140

2.31 This set of recommendations relate to the raising of resources. Finding that the NPE and POA are silent both on the magnitude of the resources required and the manner in which that they should be raised, and perhaps aware that the recommendation of a large expansion of ECCE would be idle under the present position of financial constraints, the Committee has taken pains to suggest ways in which funds can be raised from various sources.

2.32 In fact it is unfair to say that the policy document does not tackle the question of raising of resources. Part-XI "Resources and Review" of the NPE discusses the the raising of resources and mobilisation of donations for implementation of the entire policy, of which ECCE is obviously one part. It is a different matter that the NPERC does not accept the more pragmatic approach of the NPE which takes into consideration the immense financial constraints faced in implementing the policy and therefore in this sector suggests that "in the first instance, instead of attempting to universalise ECCE, attention should be directed" to the most under previleged groups, those who are still outside the mainstream of formal education". That even this pragmatic approach has failed to be translated into action only serves to underscore the limitations imposed on the policy by the lack of adequate funds. The NPERC has attempted to surmount this problem by stating precisely how funds should be obtained. Further, it is

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doubtful, if its recommendations should accepted. Pooling together of funds by different Govt. Departments is not a practical recommendation and does not take into account the manner in which the exercise for allocation of resources is conducted by the Planning Commission.

2.33 It is also to be considered if the specific recommendations that really do not concern the Education Policy but fall more within the purview of taxation policy should be made with such clear emphasis here. Recommending tax incentives, special welfare cess for the Central fund, etc. when there is no possibility of implementation through this policy might best be avoided. Similarly, the recommendations such as 140 calling for a special allocation of additional funds, "say Rs.100 Crores for 91-92" for media campaign are quite uncalled for in policy document. Thus, the resource raising suggested by the NPERC will serve no more or no less resource raising discussed by the NPE. At any rate, they will not contribute to improving the existing formulation in this regard.

Summary

The target for ECCE reiterates the POA target.

It is unrealistic to expect that allocations for ECCE will be spelt out as percentage of GNP or that such spelling out will result in higher allocations when it has not lead to higher allocations for the education

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sector as well.

Some of the suggestions for raising resources are in common with the NPE suggestions, the others do not appear practical.

Specific recommendations about raising resources cannot be made in the education policy document. There should only be suggestions and broad indications.

RECOMMENDATIONS 141 to 144

2. 34 These recommendations deal with the monitoring and evaluation of the ECCE programme and strive to be different from what is said in the POA by stressing lateral and horizontal exchange of information as well as the need to make evaluation reports public. The Committee recommends that the major role in internal monitoring and evaluation should rest with DIETs and educational complexes and external or independent evaluation should be done at the level of educational complexes only.

2.35 It is indeed here that internal monitoring can only be done by the organisation that is running the programme. Thus, if the major role with the Women and Child Development Department and the major programme is that of the ICDS, internal monitoring would have to be done by them. The object of monitoring - not just the major object, as suggested by recommendation 143 - is to feed back the information collected to the system that is running

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the programme to enable it to renew/strengthen/correct the programme. Internally, this role can only be performed by the programme functionaries. Therefore, suggestion that the DIETs and educational complexes should perform this role needs to be reconsidered. The DIETs even by the NPERC itself has been given only a supporting role of training to the programme. Its role in monitoring can therefore only be external.

2.36 The POA suggest that external evaluation of ECCE programmes should be done through professional institutions and expert bodies. It is felt that this recommendation has far more strength than the NPERC one which does not take into consideration that at the educational complexes level, which is likely to be the block level, the expertise for independent reports worthy of public consideration would probably not exist. It seems that the NPERC in its keenness to emphasise decentralisation has taken a stand against anything beyond block level even where it is called for. It would have done better to have endorsed the POA again on this issue. However, as regards the emphasis upon sharing of information, it has made a valid point that should be taken into consideration by the implementing department.

Summary

Internal monitoring by its very nature has to be monitoring by the organisation running the

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programme. since, DIETs only perform a support function even in the NPERC's view they cannot do internal monitoring.

The POA recommendation that external monitoring should be done by academic and professional institutions makes more reasonable than the NPERC's approach of decentralising external evaluation as well.

Sharing of information is a good idea and should be given effect by the implementation agencies.

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Developments Since NPE

3. 1 ICDS has developed a very comprehensive package of Early Childhood Care Services consisting of supplementary nutrition, health check-up, referral services, non-formal pre-school education etc. for a real holistic child development. The Working Group on Development and Welfare of Children - Eigth Five Year Plan had very rightly commended that in the integrated approach to child development, the ICDS should be the leading light and the efforts should be to universalise its by the end of 1994-95. The ICDS is presently being implemented through a network of over 2.5 lakh anganwadis spred throughout the country (though of course, the present ICDS coverage is 40%). The conversion of Anganwadis into Anganwadi-cum-Creche Centres will go a long way in taking proper care of the young children of 0-3 years. This will also relieve the older siblings in the families particularly girls, from the chore of looking after these children, which will give a boost to girls enrolment in schools as well as their retention in the school system. The Department has also decided to extend some of the benefits of ICDS to adolescent girls which would not only cover health and nutrition services for these girls, but also impart functional literacy. Further, the anganwadis could also evolve themselves into Integrated Women and Child Development Centres where all the services for children and women could converge. These will include women's Non-formal education, Formal 3 R's as also Skill Development Training for employment generation etc. These platforms could also be utilised for conscientising

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awareness generation of women.

3.2 The approach of community involvement in basic education through microplanning has been developed under various projects for Education For All, Lok Jumbish and Bihar Education Project. Both these projects envisage active involvement of the village community in the management of educational programmes at the pre-primary and primary stages and both these projects have emphasised the role of community in developing the ECCE programmes.

3.3 Realising the importance of ECCE in preparing children for primary eduction, efforts are being made to integrate ECCE with UEE. Here again, one can give the example of various projects which envisage a linking, of ECCE with primary education in order to provide basic conditions for promoting universal access to elementary education. Thus, the Lok Jumbish project proposes to undertake the development of Creches, lower primary units Balalays which should be attached to pre-primary, primary and upper-primary schools. Similarly, Bihar Education Project stresses the need to strengthen the pre-school eduction component of ICDS through proper training of ICDS personnel and development of teaching/learning materials which will provide a stimulative atmosphere of pre-primary education in ICDS.

3.4 The singnificance of ECCE in promoting girl education as well as its positive role in promoting directly or indirectly welfare programmes for women, specially of the deprived sections has been realised and given concrete shape in some

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projects mobilising women for education and development. Thus, the Mahila Samakhya Project has on the basis of the inter-dependence of woemn's need for child care, pre school and educational facilities for children, has evolved flexible models of child care centres. These centres labelled as 'Creative centres of children' provide for child care; along with exercises in creative expression, educational games and instruction in three R's. Such centres are located within a hamlet to ensure that distance does not pose an impediment to young children who need to attend the centre. The health, nutritional and educational content of the centres is planned in conjunction with Mahila Sanghas. This in itself is an implementation of the idea of involving local women groups in the planning and operation of ECCE centres.

3.5 A proposal is under consideration to strengthen the educational resource support to pre-primary education by creation of ECCE cells in SCERT. This cell would assist in the development of suitable teaching/learning material and child-centred play-way methodologies of education for children at the pre-primary stage. It would also promote the training to resource persons, and help in strengthening the educational component of ECCE programmes thereby making these programmes effective vehicles of child development and transition to primary education.

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