Impact of Quality of ECCE Programs on Cognitive Development and School Readiness of Children.

The significance of Early Childhood Care and Education for human resource development has been globally recognized. There is a growing body of research evidence to prove that children who received quality early childhood education are not only more likely to be healthy and ready for formal education but also show better progress at the primary stage and thus it helps in reducing wastage and stagnation. The present study examined the effectiveness of ECE programs run by government (Aanganwadi) and Non- government organizations in terms of cognitive development and school readiness of children. The sample included six ECE centers of Jaipur city. Out of those six ECE centers, three were Aanganwadi center and three centers were run by NGOs. From each center 25% of children present in the class were included in the sample. The information were collected with the help of cognitive development tool developed by Dr. Hema Pandey and school readiness tool prepared by the World Bank and CECED department of Ambedkar university. The findings of the study shows that Aanganwadi run under ICDS program are lagging behind the ECE centers run by NGO’s in terms of cognitive development and school readiness of children enrolled in it. Although the infrastructure facility were not found upto the mark in ECE centers run by non-government organization but the condition was found worse in government run Aanganwadi centers. They are not properly equipped to deal with the educational needs of preschool children. Moreover the ECCE personnel working in Aanganwadi lacked sufficient skills to deliver educational training to the enrolled children. To reap the maximum educational benefits of existing ECCE programmes the staff need to be trained along with boosting the infrastructure inputs.