During our search for
a good playschool we visited three anganwadis in our area in Thrissur.
Anganwadi is a beautiful concept – a child-care and mother-care center
sponsored by the Government of India. http://www.aanganwadi.org/ says “It caters to children in the 0-6
age group. The word means "courtyard shelter" in Hindi. They were
started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child
Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition. The Anganwadi
system is mainly managed by the Anganwadi worker. She is a health worker chosen
from the community and given 4 months training in health, nutrition and
child-care. She is in charge of an Anganwadi which covers a population of
1000”. Food is cooked in the anganwadi and given to the children. Even though
its primary aim is to fight malnutrition of children from poor families, it
serves as a place to impart basic education and serves as a nursery school.
Although these are primarily meant for low income and economically weaker
sections, anganwadi is open to all. The number of admissions is very less,
somehow the people for whom it is intended are either not aware or do not want
to send their kids to the Govt facility.
The one functioning in
the Govt School is closest to us, and also it seemed to have the most
enthusiastic teacher-ayah team. So we went there to have a detailed look. The
first thing we noticed was the rough floor- unpolished terracotta. And my kids
are so used to glazed tiles and soft floors. Then there are only coir mats for
an afternoon nap, on the floor. My kids don’t sleep even when they lie on a
comfortable bed. Then it is slightly dark inside, unlike the very well lit
interiors of private preschools. However, the place is clean. They cook food
using clean water; the kitchen is attached to the main room. Breakfast is a
pancake or cereal cooked using a powder provided by the Government. It is a mix
of nine different grains and gram. Highly nutritious it seems. Thy give it at
around 10 am, but if the kids come after breakfast from home, they give it a
snack at around 11 am. Lunch is rice and green gram cooked together in gruel
form. If the kids want to bring their own lunch, or any curry for lunch, they
can do it. I mean we can do almost whatever we want in anganwadi, very much
unlike a private play school. After lunch is nap time, till 3 pm. When they
wake up, they are given a snack made of broken wheat. If the kid does not want
to eat it, he can take it home. At 3.30 pm, they close.
During the time
between meals the kids are taught rhymes, action songs, moral stories, proverbs
etc. They have prescribed syllabus- very simple stuff like ‘Teach about family,
friends and relationships in the first month, School, garden and flowers and
birds in the second month’ etc. By the end of the year the child learns to
identify and may be write a few alphabets and learns to count till 20 or so.
Then they can move on to lower kindergarten. The care and food here in an
anganwadi is absolutely free, against Rs.3000/- to Rs.5000/- per month per
child in a private preschool.
If it works well, it
is a great concept- the anganwadi. The child is given nutritious food freshly
cooked and free of cost. Basic education is given with no pressure whatsoever,
and the timing and rules are also relaxed, befitting the adjusting
pre-schooler. It is hygienic; there is regular inspection by the supervisors.
However, it all depends on the particular anganwadi worker’s attitude. We found
that some of them are very, very dedicated, and wanted to do whatever was
possible for them; while some others were totally indifferent or downright
discouraging- no wonder the number of kids are only 1-4 in each anganwadi. In
fact, we were ready to help in whatever way we could- I mean we are getting
free child care, free food (if our kids eat it), and free basic education,
during the working hours when we both had to go. Since all other play schools
and day care centers cost quite a lot we were saving a lot of money for three
kids. So we were ready to spend money on improving the basic infrastructure of
the anganwadi room if in case they needed anything. But we saw that good
facilities were provided by the Govt.- good books, alphabets and picture
charts, maps, activity stuff, toys, chairs, storage shelves, mats, buckets,
bowls, plates etc. All they needed was a little more lighting. However not all
anganwadis are fortunate like this. The main issues faced by anganwadis in
Kerala are given in this post http://tripletshouse.blogspot.in/2016/01/anganwadi-in-kerala.html
