Mumbai: Early childhood development (ECD) is among the four key goals set by Aga Khan IV, the current Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, as he marks the diamond jubilee of his leadership. The 81-year-old spiritual leader will arrive in Mumbai on Wednesday, where he is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao. Later, he will address his followers in Kalina.
Other key goals set by the Aga Khan are poverty alleviation, institution development and education. Tinni Sawhney, CEO, Aga Khan Foundation, said, “These specific goals, set up for the diamond jubilee year, will get a lot of focus. The interventions will be scaled up and will take centrestage.” In his golden jubilee year, the Aga Khan had set education and care for senior citizens as key goals.
This year, ECD assumes importance as many countries have woken up to the importance of interventions during the early years. There are comprehensive ECD policies designed by countries like Uganda and South Africa, among others, where the health, education and social development departments work in tandem on this.
The Aga Khan Development Network’s ECD model specifies three mutually reinforcing levels of intervention: classroom, family and community, system support. These respond to key gaps in the quality of ECD that prevent children from accessing preschool education. At present, the network operates 64 ECD centres and supports 218 anganwadis in Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
The Aga Khan, who is the 49th hereditary Imam of the community, inaugurated Sundar Nursery, a 16th-century heritage garden adjacent to Humayun’s Tomb, in New Delhi last week. The 96-acre patch was restored over a period of nine years by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). Later, he visited Ahmedabad. His trip to India will conclude with the Mumbai visit.
