The first ‘Play to Learn’ Summit to highlight the crucial role of play in young children’s overall development was held here today under the Meghalaya Early Childhood Development Mission (MECDM) and Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project (MHSSP).
The Summit was held in collaboration with Sesame Workshop India Trust with funding support from SBI Foundation and the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance.
The event highlighted the importance of integrating local culture and folklore practices to develop contextualized teaching learning materials for ECCE as aligned with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF, Oct 2022) and New Education Policy 2020.
The discussion explored evidence-based initiatives to enhance children’s skills, the role of community engagement in culturally tailored play-oriented education, and the value of research in play-focused approaches.
The summit also showcased the work of ECD Mission, and the contribution of vital partners such as Sesame Workshop India in connecting play-based learning with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and NEP 2020. Caregivers were also highlighted for their crucial role in supporting children’s play by creating a safe and playful environment, providing easily available materials, and fostering independent and creative play.
Social Welfare Minister, Paul Lyngdoh who attended the summit as the chief guest informed that 60,000 children from across the state have been registered under the ECDM, which is the first of its kind initiative in the country.
The main goal of the mission is to maximize the lifelong potential of children by providing the key development support required in the critical “early years”: from conception to eight years of age. The expected beneficiaries of the mission are caregivers, children between the ages of 0-8 years (including those with disabilities), pregnant women and lactating mothers.
The mission will convert all Anganwadi Centers into ECD Centers to provide comprehensive support to children, including nutrition, cognitive development, socio-emotional learning, and the foundational development they will need to succeed later in school and in life.
Lyngdoh informed that their focus is not only on the nutritional aspects but also to check on their physical and mental well-being. The family, anganwadi and the community are very important focal point of this mission, he added.
Additionally, there is a significant focus on community based and home-based ECD activities. For instance, women’s self-help groups and father’s circles will receive training so that they can act as support groups to caregivers and can coach caregivers on simple activities they can do at home to promote the cognitive development and overall well-being of their children.
“This mission will first focus on the anganwadi centres. Right now we’ve covered about 60,000 children and our aim is to also develop a curriculum of our own so that the anganwadi centres also become a centre of learning and not just for nutrition alone,” Lyngdoh said.
Concerning the expenses, the government is partnering with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and that the conversation with ADB has been very positive. The minister added that they will share the details once they sign the memorandum of understanding.
“We are targeting to reach out to all the centres and we are also creating another 3,000 centres in order to facilitate the mission to be introduced in those centres,” he said.
Principal Secretary Sampath Kumar said, “Children are inherently inclined towards play and it is imperative that we acknowledge the intrinsic role of play in their comprehensive development.”
The Sesame Workshop India has been working closely with the Social Welfare Department to carry out “Learn Play Grow” in four districts of the State. An official release here said, supported by the SBI Foundation since 2020, this initiative is benefitting 90,000 children in 3000 Anganwadi Centres by training Anganwadi workers to provide child-centered, play/activity-based curricula, pedagogical processes, and effective techniques, which can be further developed to support the mission across the state.
