Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/geeto-nachcho-gappo-singing-dancing-and-storytelling/5023479/
A Typical Day at the Ginara Community Based Child Development Center (CBCD)
Set deep in hamlets surrounded by lush green nature, People’s Rural Education Movement (PREM)2 runs Community Based Child Development Centers, also referred to as PREM centers. The majority of PREM centers are located in very remote areas of Odisha state, India, which has a 32.6% poverty incidence (Government of Odisha, 2014)3 and 23% scheduled tribe population (Government of Odisha, 2013).4 The literacy rate is 72.9% for the state and 52.2% for the tribal population (Government of Odisha, 2013).5
The village children enter the center, greet the teacher, Sahila, and start the day by making a circle. Sahila takes attendance and sings a prayer with the children. This is followed by a check of children’s personal hygiene and grooming.
Following the neatly displayed handwritten timetable, Sahila starts singing and dancing in Saora,6 Odiya,7 and English. Sahila gradually moves from rhymes to pictures to alphabet books. She first asks children to identify the animals and birds in the pictures and then expands the discussion by asking other details about the pictures. Children share their observations of how birds eat with their beaks and how cows and goats graze on grass. Leveraging the interest of the children, Sahila starts a discussion about where animals and birds live and the ...