CHILD CARE

              “Every day, in a 100 small ways, our children ask, ‘Do you hear me? Do you see me? Do I matter?’   Their behavior often reflects our response.” – that’s why Henria Unique education Centre (HUEC) has undergone a methodological shift in its policy and action by adopting a human rights-based approach in the development work that it carries out among poor Indian communities. While the Child in Need does not have her fundamental needs met yet, the Child with Rights is being supported in having a voice and fulfilling her fundamental entitlements as a matter of right.

                  Although it is common for parents these days to place their children that are pre-school age into childcare centres, some people criticise this and argue that children will receive a better level of care from relatives such as grandparents. Personally, I would argue that the best choice is to send children to a childcare centre.

                       Those that support care through grandparents cite several reasons for this. Firstly, they claim that this is the safest option due to the fact that they are family members so they can be trusted at all times to put the health and safety of the child first. Another important consideration is costs. Parents will have to pay to place their children in a childcare centre, and with the financial burdens that families face these days, using relatives to care for children would be a considerable cost saving. 

Despite these benefits, there are clear advantages of using professional carers. First and foremost, staff members at most centres are fully trained in early childhood education so they understand child development and will be able to nurture the child’s growing skills in the best way. Not only this, since there are a mix of instructional activities during the day such as painting, singing, and storytelling, children’s creativity and learning will be developed. Last but not least, children can benefit from the opportunity to socialize with other children, which they might not get to do with a relative caring for them at home.

                      Henria Unique education Centre’s (HUEC) rights-based approach aims at creating Child Friendly Community, where families, schools, police stations, social and physical settings are committed to respect, protect and fulfill children’s rights in the spheres of health, nutrition, education and protection from all forms of abuse, exploitation and violence.      

(A)  Communities are mobilised by self-help women’s and children’s groups to   ensure that parents, families, schools, ICDS centres, health sub-centres, police stations engage in keeping children in good health, well nourished, educated and protected from all practices that may be harmful to their full growth and development

(B)   Service providers are supported and monitored to ensure that teachers, health personnel, social workers extend quality health, nutrition, education and protection services equitably and inclusively to all children living in the community

(C)  Local elected representatives (Panchayati Raj Institutions in rural areas and Urban Local Bodies in municipal areas) are encouraged to ensure access to basic services, and implementation of policies and budgets in the best interests of children and women

                  As long as the quality of care was good, the children in daycare will be able to form secure attachments to their parents and perform well in school. The most important factor in a child’s outcome is the quality of his or her home life, rather than whether or not the child is in daycare. Some researchers defined quality care as being nurturing, dependable and supportive of language and learning. Only about half of childcare providers offer such high-quality care during the toddler and preschool years, that the researchers team have found.                           

The most important factor determining childcare quality was the number of children a caregiver was providing for; the fewer the number, the better the care. In addition, caregivers who had some college education and those who had positive beliefs about children provided more supportive care. The researchers found that parents whose children are in high-quality daycare may themselves benefit by learning skills from the childcare providers.
              Working with children is a very rewarding and even sometimes a testing experience. Although there are rules to follow, there will always be highlights in your day. In my opinion the Henria Unique education Centre’s (HUEC)  provides high quality care that best promotes children’s learning and development in the early years. The Henria Unique education Centre’s (HUEC) day care quality assurance process ensures that all children in Family Day Care have stimulating, positive experiences and interactions that foster all aspects of their development. It is a regulatory requirement that a written plan of the children’s daily experiences and activities is kept and made available to parents.

            Henria Unique education Centre’s (HUEC) acts as a facilitator in engaging local development actors – the community, service providers and elected representatives – in a process aimed to strengthen good governance with and for children and women. Local governance partners are involved in participatory processes leading to increasing awareness on problems affecting the community, identifying issues through social mapping, planning interventions to address shared priorities, and monitoring the progressive fulfilment of human rights by all, especially the socially excluded. Children and women are leaders in transforming their communities to make them inclusive to the most marginalised and poor sections.

                     Henria Unique education Centre’s (HUEC)  has involved its staff at all levels in developing the Child Friendly Community approach as a way to implement all of its programmes in the areas of health, nutrition, education and protection in a holistic and child-centred manner. In the process, CINI has been progressively shifting from an emphasis on direct service provision to a focus on facilitating governance processes aimed to enhance access to services, programmes and budgets that are increasingly being made available in India, especially by government. Henria Unique education Centre’s (HUEC)  goal is to empower the community and engage duty-bearers in fulfilling the fundamental entitlements of rights-holders, especially deprived children and women.

                What is essential is to realize that children learn independently, not in bunches; that they learn out of interest and curiosity, not to please or appease the adults in power; and that they ought to be in control of their own learning, deciding for themselves what they want to learn and how they want to learn it . We want to do for child Care –

  1. Henria Unique education Centre’s (HUEC)  philosophy on childcare is that, when becoming a teacher you should be focused on the well being of the child and the process of caring for the young adolescent. By helping a young child grow and learn through Physical care, Nurturing, and Guidance a teacher will obtain a sense of achievement, through contributing to the development of the child.          
  2. During the child’s development, a teacher should be able to meet the child’s needs through physical care. Throughout child growth, an educator needs to ensure a healthy growth for a child within the classroom. Furthermore, by involving the young adolescent in play, it will provide the young child with opportunities for hands on experiences and active involvement.
  3. Children need a quality care environment with trained, skilled and nurturing educationalist. By paying attention to the child’s ability, it would provide a meaningful, relevant and interesting way for them to expand their understandings in the classroom. Nurturing relationships require the teacher to provide support, and encouragement. It allows them to be responsive to the children’s social and emotional needs as to their intellectual demands.
  4. Young adolescents need guidance and advice throughout life. Through guidance, it allows the child to learn self-control and also provide them with positive values during their growth. Helping young children build confidence and have fun, an educator must be actively involved in the child’s endeavor and keep a good attitude. During guidance it will permit the child to develop high sense of self-esteem, encourage them to be an explorer, and provide them with a clear sense of values.

                People’s empowerment helps internalise fundamental rights and demand services as entitled citizens. Women’s self-help groups have become members of several government forums, such as the Gram Unnayan Samity, the Village Education Committee, the Village-level Child Protection Committee, the Village Health Nutrition Day, the Ward Committee. Young people have organised themselves in Bal Panchayat, which provides a platform to engage local decision-makers in issues affecting children.