‘Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi’ initiative of Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 to bring focus of Anganwadi system on early childhood care and education

Government has launched Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) initiative on 10th May, 2023 for upskilling of all anganwadi workers to build their capacity to provide early childhood care and education and nutrition service to children below six years of age.

As on June, 2024 a total of 11,364 State Level Master Trainers (CDPOs, Supervisors and Additional Resource Persons) and 1877 Anganwadi Workers have been trained across the country under Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi.

Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi’ initiative of Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 was launched on 10 May 2023 to bring focus of the Anganwadi system on early childhood care and education and transform the Anganwadi Centre into a Learning Centre having high quality infrastructure, play equipment, and well-trained Anganwadi Workers to stimulate the creative, social, emotional and cognitive development of children under 6 years of age including divyang children.

To empower the Anganwadi workers and ensure optimal learning for all children including Divyang children, this Ministry has developed two curriculum frameworks – “Navchetana- National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation for Children from Birth to Three Years, 2024” and “Aadharshila- National Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education for Children from Three to Six Years 2024” under Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi programme.

For children from birth to three years, the National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation, “Navchetna” is regarding holistic early stimulation, through responsive caregiving and opportunities for early learning, for optimal development of children. Monthly age based activities for 36 months are provided that can be conducted both within the household as well as at the Anganwadi Centre, through all the contact points including home visits, monthly meetings, community-based events etc. Screening, inclusion and referrals for Divyang children are also given special focus.

For children from age three to six years, the National Curriculum for ECCE “Adharshila” covers all domains of development as per the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage 2022 (NCF-FS), including physical/motor, cognitive, language and literacy, socioemotional, cultural/aesthetic as well as positive habits. It provides a weekly calendar comprising 36 weeks of active learning, 8 weeks of reinforcement and 4 weeks of initiation, together with 5+1 days of play-based learning in one week, and three blocks of activities in one day. It provides for a combination of activities, including in-centre and at-home, indoor and outdoor, child-led and educator-led activities etc. Special focus has been given for the screening, inclusion and referrals of Divyang children in every activity.