Advisor for School Education and SCERT, Dr Kekhrielhoulie Yhome on Wednesday released a handbook on indigenous toys and games of Nagaland, Nagaland early childhood care and education (ECCE) curriculum hand book-Theoretical principles & Thematic framework (Part-A) and Nagaland ECCE curriculum hand book-based learning experience – Teacher manual (Part B), here at conference hall, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Kohima.

Advisor Dr Yhome, addressing the release function, observed that young people of today’s Naga society are under stress due to the sudden change from old educational system to the new system. He said now people are informed about the different forms of literacy, not just about arts but about emotional literacy, social literacy which needs to be incorporated into a child.

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Director SCERT Kevirale-ü Kerhuo, in her welcome address, asserted that quality education of young learners is crucial as it serves as the foundation of knowledge and skills, which are the building blocks for higher level learning. She said that National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020 is a transformative initiative to attain high quality education for all children and reiterated the importance for every child to have access to early childhood care and education. NEP 2023 has necessitated the development of curricular and pedagogical framework for ECCE for children upto the age of 8, the director added.

In this light, Kerhuo said Nagaland ECCE Curriculum Handbook has been developed to provide good quality preschool education, giving due considerations to the socio-cultural context of the children in the state. “The Nagaland ECCE Curriculum Handbook is crucial for ushering in much needed change in the educational system in the state. It will also serve as a guiding tool for teachers to develop innovative pedagogical practices and facilitate learning experiences contextual to our children,” she added.

She informed, the handbook is a product of cooperation and collective efforts of subject teachers government and private, teacher-educators from SCERT/DIET, School Education Department, Social Welfare and ECCE practitioners in private sector and faculty from Azim Premji University Bangalore, which is a non profit organization.

Mentioning that the book “Indigenous Toys and games” is another exceptional educational resource as it is an exploration of the rich cultural heritage of Naga people, SCERT director said that through this exploration, an attempt is made to create learning experience in many contexts and across a range of classroom lessons and outdoor activities. Particularly in a world where many different kinds of information are readily available, it is crucial to have educational resources that not only provides knowledge but also inspire curiosity, critical thinking, creativity and to be situated in proper context.

This book recognizes this vision and within it holds ideas, insights and perspectives that, we hope, will ignite the minds of learners.

“It is understood that play and toys are vital part of childhood and indigenous games and toys provide wide scope for stimulating and enhancing communication, motor skills, creativity, problem solving and many other skills, it also reinforces culture and has the potential to orient learners towards recognizing and embody values that is conducive for the development of the learner as well as the society,” added Kerhuo.

Meanwhile, the vision of SCERT Nagaland is to provide stimulating and contextualized experiences to children; lack of effective curricular framework which is developmentally and culturally appropriate; existing curriculum is exclusive to Government pre-primary schools; mushrooming preschools in Nagaland with no standardized curriculum; lack of common curriculum for preschools in Nagaland (Private and Government) and lastly, the value NEP 2020 has placed on preschool education and the direction it has provided.

Bijoy Sankar Das, Leader-North Eastern States & Jammu & Kashmir, Azim Premji University, Bangalore

Further, the director of SCERT said that the curriculum is needed as it provides stimulating and contextualized experiences to children based on the value and the direction that the NEP 2020 has provided. She said the curriculum is holistic in nature and contextualized to the land and culture of Nagaland.

It also answers the question that arises with NEP 2020 stating that education in the foundational stage (3-8 years) would not be textbook oriented.

The curriculum is designed such that the teacher focusses on providing opportunities for children to engage with the world through a variety of ways such as exploration, inquiry, art, drama, music, movement, story telling, and games, rather than worrying about a syllabus to finish or textbooks to be filled up.

The curriculum visualizes Teaching Learning Materials (TLMs) as open ended/ flexible resources for children to practice, enjoy, explore and create new things.

The curriculum is inclusive and attempts to ensure that all the diverse communities are represented in the learning experiences and there is scope for teachers and children to bring in diverse experiences of their culture. Besides contemporary ideas and aspects of learning, folk stories, songs, music and musical instruments and dances are an integral part of the curriculum. This resonates with the vision of NEP 2020 to instil in students a deep-rooted pride in their own culture and indigenous knowledge.

It also aims to nurture children into becoming evolved learners of society who learn to think and know, learn to live together, learn to apply their knowledge, and learn to be (Delors, 1996)

The new curriculum aligns itself to the goals set by the NCERT Preschool curriculum and follows guidelines provided by the National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020. It addresses contemporary ideas and debates in the domain of early childhood education and places a special emphasis on the significance of diversity in Nagaland today and how it can enrich the curriculum.

Earlier an overview of the Nagaland ECCE was delivered by Agnes Krocha, Lecturer, DIET Chiechama attached to ECCE cell and thoughts on Nagaland ECCE curriculum was delivered by Bijoy Sankar Das, Leader-North Eastern States & Jammu & Kashmir, Azim Premji University, Bangalore.