A worksop to review Meghalaya's Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) curriculum was organised at Asian Confluence, Laitumkhrah in Shillong.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Meghalaya Social Welfare Department, along with Sesame Workshop India, SBI Foundation and SBI Life.

Sesame Workshop India is an educational non-profit committed to meeting the early developmental needs of young children.

The workshop addressed the vision for early childhood development in Meghalaya, the whole child curriculum and proposed an age-wise curriculum with goals, competence, thematic integration, and group work.

Representatives of the Social Welfare Department are reviewing the recommendations made by Sesame Workshop India in consultation with ECCE experts, State Education Department, ICDS, NCERT, and representatives from departments of Planning, Health, Community & Rural Development Meghalaya State Rural Livelihood Society.

Speaking at the consultative workshop, Sampath Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, stated that Meghalaya is probably the 1st and only State in India to have initiated an Early Childhood Development (ECD) Mission by introducing the Early Childhood Care & Education Curriculum.

"This is a holistic approach towards all-around development of children starting from the preconception to the age of eighteen years," he said.

He also added that a collaborative approach is the need of the hour as far as implementing the ECD mission in Meghalaya is concerned.

The ECD mission implementation in the State requires a collaborative approach from several departments, including the Health & FW, Social Welfare, Education, C&RD, and the teachers and parents' cooperation into the materialisation of this mission.

He also gave a detailed presentation of the Meghalaya ECD Mission.

Meghalaya's ECD Mission is a multidisciplinary, research-based approach that will lead to the holistic development of a child and overcome poverty and the inter-generational gap.

The ECD mission focuses not only on the child but also on parents and propagates the 1000 days gap period in terms of birth spacing, including responsible parenthood, which is crucial for the well-being of the mothers and the children.

The workshop witnessed the participation and interaction between several governments and non-governmental stakeholders, including those from the Health & Family Welfare, Social Welfare (Women & Child Development), Education, C&RD Department, as well as teachers and educators from several schools, including Pine Mount School and Shillong Public School.

Each department and representative spoke about various levels of interventions being undertaken at their capacities and the challenges they face, including the gap that needs to be bridged towards implementing the ECD mission at large in the State. The members highlighted the need to work in collaboration instead of in silos while expanding the role of women Self Help Groups to leverage the mission.