A World Bank pilot project explored ways to integrate child development that addressed the health, nutritional and early educational needs of children from prenatal to 11 years towards ensuring “a happy, healthy and learning childhood” for every child in the community.
The Film titled “Bachpan,” (Childhood in Hindi) captures the experience of this pilot project.
The film shows how community youth can be mobilized and trained to promote education, nutrition, and vaccination in the remote villages of India. By tapping the local talent, families are made aware of the opportunities that are available for child caring and education. Government officials from health, nutrition, and education coordinated through a planning process led by the villagers. The film was shot in Ratlam District, a geographically and culturally isolated tribal community in central India.
The pilot project was based on a World Bank report titled, “Reaching out to the Child.” The report reviewed India’s three major programs for children in the areas of reproductive child health, child development services and elementary education. It highlighted the need for planning and implementing programs for children in an integrated approach, with the knowledge that the development of a child is interdependent with the outcomes for health, nutrition and education. The study recommended moving towards decentralized integrated bottom-up planning rather than focusing on nutrition, health and education separately.
The State of Madhya Pradesh invited the World Bank to try out this concept of “Convergent, Decentralized & Participatory planning” in poor parts of Bajna in Ratlam district covering 220 villages.
RSS