Quality of Pre School Education in Anganwadi Centres

Abstract

This paper looks into the quality of pre-school education being offered in Anganwadi Centres in Gurugram and Manesar with special attention to learning conditions, teaching and learning methods and the perception of various stakeholders. Primary data were gathered using descriptive research design in a sample of 100 respondents who included parents and other members of the community that were part of the chosen Anganwadi Centres. The results show that Anganwadis continue to play an important and convenient role in imparting early childhood education in urban and peri-urban environments, and that the perceptions toward care, safety, and the worker-child relationship are mostly positive. Nevertheless, the quality of pre-school education was observed to be skewed depending on the differences in infrastructure, availability of age-specific learning facilities, frequency of pre-school activities and workforce based limitations. The study points out that although the basic early learning practices exist, there is a tendency to limit the depth and consistency of instructions to competing service responsibilities and pressures of the contexts. The study adds localised data to advance initiatives that would strengthen the foundation of education with the help of Anganwadi Centres.