COVID-19: Standard Guidelines for ICDS Centre and Digital Based Curriculum Launched

August 28, 2020, Bengaluru: The Director of Women and Child Development Department, Karnataka, Sri K A Dayananda (IAS), today, launched the Standard Guidelines for Covid-19 resilient ICDS Centre and Gulmohar (digital-based curriculum to encourage home learning environment).

The virtual launch was done in the presence of Joint Director (ICDS), MsSurekhaVijayaprakash; Director- Programmes and Policy, Bal Raksha Bharat, Anindit Roy Chowdhury; Deputy Director (South India), Bal Raksha Bharat, Vikas Gora; Deputy Director (Education), Kamal Gaur; Head-Urban Programme and Policy, Bal Raksha Bharat, Manish A Thakre; Manager Safe Schools, Bal Raksha Bharat, Mintu Debnath, Programme Coordinator, Bal Raksha Bharat, V. Lissy and other participants from National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, CDPOs, AnaganwadiWorkers across Karnataka, parents, Corporates, media, community leaders including partner organizations, BOSCO and Sparsha Trust were also present on occasion. More than 100 people attended the launch event.

Speaking on occasion, Sri K A Dayananda, IAS, Director of Women and Child Development Department, said: “We welcome organizations like Bal Raksha Bharat to collaborate. Very well-drafted guidelines and the digital curriculum. Let’s work together and keep children connected with the learning environment. Our department will support the team in every possible way. My best wishes for the campaign ‘Protect A Generation’. We need to rewrite the new normal for the children and women in the state of Karnataka.”

COVID-19 crisis has increased vulnerabilities among the children in terms of health, protection, and education. A report prepared by UNICEF has revealed that it has impacted about 28 million children who were attending pre-school education in Anganwadi centers. This is in addition to more than six million girls and boys who were already out of school before the COVID-19 crisis in India. It’s the need of the hour to be prepared with standard guidelines ensuring the safety of the children once they are back inAnganwadi centres. The standard guidelines aim to take pre-emptive and preventive actions to prepare the Anganwadi Centres to be safe and ready to be used by children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The scope of the guidelines is to help internal and external stakeholders to reopen (PREVENTIVE ACTIONS BEFORE AND AFTER OPENING) the educational institutions safely.

Bal Raksha Bharat has developed Gulmohar (a digital-based curriculum)to create a learning environment at home. The Gulmohar framework is an endeavour to reach the most marginalized families with a package of play-based learning and wellbeing activities at home. WhatsApp based audio-visuals will enhance children’s learning environment at home, socio-emotional wellbeing, physical development, emergent literacy, and emergent math skills.

Vikas Gora, Deputy Director (South India), Bal Raksha Bharat, India, added, “We are happy to continue to partner with the Department of Women and Child Development, Karnataka, as our collective mission is to realize the rights of children. The Standard Guidelines for Covid-19 Resilient Anganwadi Centre, developed by Bal Raksha Bharat, will surely help in creating a culture of safe learning environment and in protecting a generation.”

Bal Raksha Bharat globally launched Protect a Generation, a global response to the COVID-19 crisis, to act quickly to prevent, mitigate, and respond to the devastating impact of the pandemic. Our response has four priorities underpinned by our global commitment to quality, accountability, and partnership: (Mitigate the impact of the pandemic on child survival, help children learn, stay safe, and return to school, Support family survival and food security through safety nets and Keep children, families, and communities safe.

In Karnataka, Bal Raksha Bharat, in collaboration with the Department of Women and Child Development, launched a collaborative campaign ‘Protect A Generation’ to rewrite the new normal for the children (3 to 6 years) and families belonging to the waste picking community in Bengaluru city. The campaign is a part of the Collective Impact project supported by the H&M Foundation. Bal Raksha Bharat will create multiple platforms and opportunities to have solution-oriented dialogues about positive stories of hope focusing on the survival, learning opportunities, protection issues of children and families belonging to the Waste Pickers’ Community. The campaign will run until March 2021.

About Bal Raksha Bharat

Bal Raksha Bharat runs programmes to address children’s needs in 11 Indian states and Union Territories. Globally known as Save the Children, the organisation works in 116 countries. Visit www.balrakshabharat.org for more information.

For further information, contact:

Vikas Gora at vikas.gora@balrakshabharat.org or +91 9958699913

Rupali Goswami at rupali.goswami@balrakshabharat.org or +91 8879630835