As part of the Malur, Dharwad and Bengaluru ICDS project spearheaded by our pre-school team, as many as 251 women now have a new role – that of Wellness Moms. In this role, these women as mothers, raise community involvement and conduct authentic assessment that captures the learning and growing process and social and emotional well being of pre-schoolers in anganwadis, as it happens.
We at Akshara Foundation have put them – the mothers, at the helm of assessing their child’s development and also rally for more community involvement in monitoring and assessing the working of anganwadis. To do this more effectively, our preschool resource team has equipped the mothers with a 62- indicator development tool.
A comprehensive tool – the 62 indicators span from general awareness, cognitive development, language, fine motor to social, creative and emotional domains.
A series of trainings and workshops and tiding over resistence by the anganwadi teachers, these mothers are already out visiting various anganwadis to determine the wellness of their children and if the anganwadis are performing satisfactorily.
To a great extent they have been able to accomplish the stated intent. The mothers are now being accompanied and assisted by young girls and SHG members, clearly indicating that more members from the community are getting involved. Not only do they feel that this idea makes a ton of sense but is also being executed and delivered in a way that’s both compelling and result oriented.
The highly motivated mothers are making full use of our teaching and learning material (TLM) for assessment and are warming up to the idea of adopting such accountability measures based on the scores gathered from the 62 –indicator development tool.
An initiative worth pursuing, though not simple – is what most mothers feel are and they want to show what such support interventions that ensure accountability and improvement mean to them and their children in anganwadis.
Cheers to the mommy power/wellness mommy!
Download the 62-indicator development tool here
– Authored by writer@educationjams
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