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Researcher: Mr. Bashir Ahmed
A limited research has so far been carried out on it
in Bangladesh on Early Childhood Development (ECD).
It is now generally recognized that the first five years
of a child's life has a crucial and cumulative effect
on its future development. Although some costly efforts
on ECD are found in city areas in Bangladesh, the children
of the hardcore poor families are deprived of such facilities.
The project under consideration is being carried out
in Kajoli, Sripur Police Station, Magura District and
is known as Kajoli Early Childhood Development Project.
It began with children aged between 3 and 5, all belonging
to hard-core poor families that have seen no education
at all. The basic objective of the research is to develop
a replicable and scientific model of preschool for rural
poor based on indigenous culture and context. It is
expected that at the end of the one-year session the
children would be able to graduate successfully to the
mainstream national schools. The preschool activities
are based on low-cost teaching aids and no tuition fees
for the children. The parents provide school lunch and
teacher support through participatory methods that impose
no unbearable burdens on them. Except for the salary
of one teacher, the community provides other support.
The school curriculum focuses on physical development,
mental development, sensory development, social behavior
and personality development, instead of focusing on
conventional education. This research is expected to
develop a new and effective model for early childhood
development of hard-core poor children who are often
deprived of mainstream education system due to economic,
social and other reasons.
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