If your child enrolled in an Early Childhood Care and Development Centre is not developing at the same pace as their peers, it is probably because they are being taught by different facilitators who are trained differently. It has been found that the lack of a standardised curriculum among ECCD training institutes hindered the quality and effectiveness of early childhood education. To ensure a uniform and high-quality curriculum for ECCD centres, a two-day National Level ECCD Curriculum Validation Workshop was organised in the capital.
Bhutan has three institutes that train ECCD facilitators which are the Institute of Skills and Management Studies, Paro College of Education, and Athang Institute.
With each institute following its own guidelines, inconsistencies in teaching methods have emerged.
All these institutes will now implement a unified curriculum to train ECCD facilitators. Relevant stakeholders came together to review and finalize a standardised curriculum aimed at enhancing the overall development of young learners.
Jigmi Dorji, Proprietor/CEO of the Institute of Skills and Management Studies said “The main reason for bringing the curriculum under one umbrella is to protect our national interest which aligns with the international benchmark. If our ECCD curriculum is taken care of very nicely and meets all the standards that will directly benefit our children.”
Karma Dorji, Dpty. Chief Programme Officer of the Technical Trainer Training Resource Centre in MoESD said “We verify whether this curriculum aligns with the National Competency Standards which are actually aligned with the market needs. Through this validation process, if the curriculum does not comply with the required standards, then we have to resend it for further review and proceed with other validations. So, basically, we have to recheck the curriculum until it meets the required standards.”
Tshering Penjor, Principal DEO of Haa said “We need to have a standard for the training of ECCD facilitators. Why we need to have it, is to ensure educational standards which are very important, and another one is quality assurance to provide quality training to ECCD facilitators.”
Moreover, ECCD facilitators must obtain certification from the Bhutan Qualifications Professionals Certification Authority now onwards to ensure standardised training and competency. Currently, facilitators are certified by the training institutes.
The curriculum covers child development, well-being, curriculum implementation, stakeholder engagement, and professional growth.
Namgay Wangdi/Kelzang Chhophyel
Edited by Phub Gyem
