Anganwadi teachers are pejoratively referred as ‘underprivileged cousins’ of regular teachers. Not anymore. They now have a better qualification to flaunt and a bigger role to play.
‘Yashoda’ (Yardstick for Self-Empowerment, Holistic and Overall Development of Anganwadi Personnel), the six-month capacity-building diploma course launched by the Chittoor district machinery, in association with the Department of Women and Child Welfare and Sri Padmavathi Women’s University’s (SPMVV) Home Science wing, has become a big success in upgrading teachers’ knowledge on education, health and nutrition, besides introducing them to proficiency in English, computer skills and personality development.
‘Yashoda’ is a tribute to the love and affection showered by the mythological mother on her foster son Krishna, and the personal care that these teachers are expected to take.
It's the brainchild of Shilpa Pradyumna, wife of district Collector P.S. Pradyumna, after she adopted an Anganwadi centre in Mahasamudram village in Bangarupalyam mandal last year. The Collector made all the district officials stay for the night in the 4,500 plus centres to understand and address basic issues. After building toilets and water tanks, installing fans and developing kitchen gardens, Mr. Pradyumna realised an urgent need to equip the teachers with skill sets required to transform the disadvantaged children into knowledgeable citizens.
Smart centres, intelligence matters
Apart from State support, donations from general public and companies under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity poured in to turn the centres into ‘smart’ classrooms. Smart TVs in 1,527 centres beam modern education through rhymes, riddles and informative short films, while 2,000 more are in the pipeline. After the Mahasamudram centre bagged the prestigious ISO certification, becoming the State’s first to get the coveted tag, 30 more filed applications, of which 16 emerged successful. “The Anganwadi teachers may be semi-literate, but their intelligence matters. The diploma is just an attempt to recognise it,” Mr. Pradyumna told The Hindu .
In fact, West Godavari district replicating the model with the help of Adikavi Nannaya University bears testimony to the success of this novel approach.
Workers to teachers
The initiative has borne fruit as 1,308 of the 1,354 teachers who took the course qualified, the pass percentage a whopping 97%. Earlier, vaguely referred to as ‘workers’, they are now accepted as ‘teachers’, giving them the much-needed boost to their self-esteem.
These ‘qualified’ teachers are all set to receive their diplomas at SPMVV campus on Wednesday.
