Islamabad: National conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) during its two-day working sessions adopted a package of recommendations for improving the lot of teenagers.
The package was unfolded at its concluding session held at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU). It carried a road-map to bring the children in the mainstream of the national development.
The AIOU’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Shahid Siddiqui who presided over the closing session announced that they will launch a country-wide campaign to create awareness about the living-conditions of the youngsters. Conferences and seminars will be arranged to promote community’s involvement for achieving the task.
Joint Educational Adviser, Ministry of Education and Professional Training Prof. Muhammad Rafiq Tahir presented the recommendations that mainly focused on the formulation of a national policy on ECCE. It was emphasized that the policy should have legal backing of the Parliament.
It was decided that an International conference on the issue will be convened next year to give final shape to implementation-plan on ECCE.
While inaugurating the event, Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Muhammad Baligh ur Rehman had made the commitment that the government will try to reach every child for their proper nourishing to achieve the ultimate target of establishing a prosperous and healthy society.
In the package of the recommendations, it was suggested that the new policy should be based upon social constructivist approach which advocates the use of transformative pedagogies. It was emphasized that uniformity in quality of ECCE must be maintained across all regions.
The national policy must ensure equal opportunities to maintain parity by gender, locale, and any other and there should be one platform for coordination among different departments to improve ECCE The other recommendations include child safety and protection in schools, ECCE centers and the society as a whole.