COMMUNITY OWNED PRESCHOOLS (Case Study in karnataka) Dr Usha Abrol 1

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 An intensive study of two of the COCs provides some useful tips on benefits of &modalities for actively involving the community in the preschool centers  While the concept has found place in Government programmes like School management committees in schools &Bal vikas samitis in anganwadis in reality their impact is very limited. Community Owned Pre- school Centers has emerged as a widely acclaimed model in the country. 3

; - THE PHILOSOPHY The model of COCs of Prajayatna is based on following beliefs;  The community support cannot be summoned in a programmatic manner without true community involvement &ownership in the real sense  Every community can be facilitated to articulate its child care needs by building the capacities of the communities.  The institutional structures to provide an opportunity for active community participation,need to be built &nurtured 4

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6 PROCESSES FOR PARENTS’INVOLVEMENT  Parents ’Expectations meetings(Annual)  Budget Planning (Annual )  Monthly Meetings  Pre-school Committee  Supplementary Nutrition

7 1. PARENTS’ EXPECTTIONS MEET Beginning of every year a parent’s expectation meeting is held to map the parent’s expectations from the pre school center. It is intended to build a framework determining the contents of classroom sessions in keeping with what the parents want their children to learn. An analysis of parents expectations from the preschool matches with the academic guidelines for the goals of a preschool.

Parents’expectationsAcademic goals of pre school Reading,writing & numeracy skills-Urdu, Kannada & English& concepts Cognitive development Follow instructions &express themselves Comprehensive &expressive language Ability to do things themselves, eating, toilet etc Autonomy Take care of their belongings Play and enjoyMotor development 8

2. BUDGET PLAN & MEETING In the beginning of the academic year a planning meeting of the parents is held to decide on modalities for running the center.  The exercise is facilitated by coordinators in which together all the parents discuss & decide; -resources required for running the center: fee structure, teacher’s salary -amount to be spent on teaching –learning material, -infrastructure development like repair, painting etc -external support required. 9

10 3.MONTHLY MEETINGS Monthly meetings with parents are held to share their children’s learning &decide on day today problems of the center e.g. late coming of children, non/late payment of fee, repair of the building etc. Preschool Committee comprising a smaller group of parents visit the center twice a week by rotation. Close Monitoring & Involvement of parents in day today activities fostered the feeling of ownership &assured a high level of transperancy.Parents’ have been assigned the responsibility of looking at the cleanliness, attendance, timings of the center. The pre- school committee also went to purchase stationary &related items for the Center with the teachers

11  Involvement in assessment of children. Twice a year each child is assessed in the presence of the parents &learning shared with them  Supplementary Nutrition by Mothers- By rotation mothers cook &bring nutritious snacks for all the children. The raw material is given by Prajayatna, cooking is done in the individual houses &food is sent to the center.

BENEFITS  The local community. comes forward to mobilize financial & other resources whenever a need arises.  Transparency &regularity of services, accountability to the community high level of parent satisfaction PRE REQUISITE Support of an external agency in organizing community meetings & budget planning meetings, Capacity building of teachers, academic aspects like curriculum planning. The team of Prajayatna played a critical role 12

13 THANK YOU