The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Cell of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Nagaland, along with in-service teacher trainees of the two-year Diploma in Foundational Stage Education, celebrated ECCE Day at SCERT Kohima on Wednesday.
The event was organised as part of a course-based learning experience and to promote the significance of ECCE.
Additional Secretary, Department of School Education, Government of Nagaland, Vikhweno Chale, who attended as special guest, complimented SCERT for organising a well-designed programme and equipping educators with innovative teaching skills, tools, and methodologies.
Stating that 85 per cent of brain development occurs at the foundational stage, she said appropriate care is essential to nurture and support children during these early years.
Chale said the Department of School Education and SCERT are making efforts to transform the education system by focusing on competency-based learning and training teachers to better understand children’s potential while strengthening classroom and real-life connections.
“We believe that through this shift, learning becomes deeper, more meaningful, more relevant, and more applicable to society and the nation,” she said.
In the keynote address, SCERT Director Kerüüpfeü Rupreo described ECCE Day as a celebration of childhood, curiosity, creativity, and the joy of early learning.
She said the National Education Policy 2020 has given unprecedented emphasis to ECCE, while the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (2022) and the NCF for School Education (2023) encourage joyful, play-based, and activity-oriented classrooms.
The programme was chaired by Veketulu Veyie, Senior Lecturer, ECCE Cell, SCERT. It also featured trainee project screenings, experience-sharing sessions, an exhibition of products, skill demonstrations, and a performance of the Konyak lullaby “Nau ü Pu.”
