Draft NEP 2019: Link between Education and Nutrition

What is the issue?

• Draft New Education Policy (NEP) 2019 seeks to reform India’s education sector by providing a greater impetus to childhood learning and development.
• To know more about draft NEP, click here.
• It recommends the introduction of an extensive programme for young children called Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).

What is ECCE?

• Draft NEP proposes to implement the ECCE through a strategic approach that focusses on developing an excellent curricular and pedagogical framework for early childhood education by NCERT.
• This is to be delivered through a significantly expanded and strengthened system of early childhood educational institutions.
• An efficient delivery mechanism would be ensured through professionally trained educators.
• To make ECCE universal, the NEP recommends its inclusion in the Right to Education Act, 2009.

What does the survey say?

• The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2014 results recognises the existence of a learning crisis in the current system.
• It is conducted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development covering 1.1 lakh schools, the national average percentage score for Class III students in language and mathematics equalled 64 per cent and 66 per cent respectively showcasing a serious learning deficit.

Why does a learning crisis occur?

• A learning crisis occurs when the learning outcomes of a child are not commensurate with the expected educational qualification.
• According to the draft NEP, the learning crisis is rooted in the gaps in childhood care and education, which form the foundation of learning and school preparedness.

• A robust infrastructure to provide children foundational basics in their early years is a need of the time.

What is the need to invest in early childhood education?

• The draft policy states that over 85% of cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of six.
• Investment of a rupee in early childhood education reaps a 10-fold benefit in the future. Undoubtedly, the draft NEP is a right step in this direction.

What is the need to concentrate on nutrition?

• Any attempt to address the learning deficit without looking at nutrition factor is likely to be illusory.
• Nutritional deficiencies impact the mental, physical and cognitive development of a child, lower their immunity and can have serious implications on learning outcomes.
• Under-nutrition pertains to a high economic cost in terms of both compromised learning outcomes and productivity losses.
• National Family Health Survey (2015-16) data show dismal trends,
  1. Stunted children (low height-for-age) at 38.4%
  2. Wasted children (low weight-for-height) at 21%
  3. Underweight children (low weight-for-age) at 35.8%
• India faces a high incidence of under-nutrition.
• A double-edged sword of a high learning deficit and the burden of under-nutrition is faced by India’s 158.79 million children in the 0-6 years age group.

Why is there a link between education and nutrition?

• There is a strong correlation between well-nourished children and educational achievements.
• Draft NEP - Provides a framework for foundational literacy and numeracy to young children.
• Integrated Child Development Scheme - To provide adequate nutritional support through a balanced diet, supplements and physical activities complementing the efforts of the draft NEP.
• Sustained investments in the child’s foundational stage today would yield long-term benefits in the form of creating a healthy and productive working population of tomorrow.

Source: Business Line