VIN’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers are set up in rural communities for children of 3 to 5 years of age. These centers work to surround children who belong to marginalized communities, with a friendly learning environment. You as a volunteer may offer your care and support for these children by having VIN place you in one of these ECDs.

As a volunteer, your role at the early childhood development centers will be to play games with the children, create activities that encourage the development of their motor, social, and kinesthetic skills, assist teachers educate them on various issues such as basic hygiene and maybe even independently teach the children, giving the local teachers a chance to observe the way you interact with the kids and possibly help them learn from that. Being a volunteer at an ECD is a hands-on experience that is sure to be rewarding. 

“After joining  VIN, I had the opportunity to participate in different types of training related to ECD. I learned how to develop and use the local materials. Important thing, I learned to teach ECD children to know their feelings”
Sarita Aryal, ECD teacher of Pachmane ECD

“Learning starts from right at birth. Child care at the early childhood development (ECD) program fosters a congenial learning environment for children of 3 to 5 years of age to develop motor, mental, social and emotional skills.”

In Nepal, little effort is made by the government and various other sectors, to nurture and promote the overall intellectual and physical wellbeing of the young. A healthy childhood is the vital foundation of a functional future working force.

Although the government of Nepal has, upon several occasions encouraged early childhood development centers (ecd) to be set up in the community, due to the scattered nature of rural villages, institutions such as local schools, become near to inaccessible for the local people. As a result, most children spend their early years at home, without any play material, acquiring no communicative or social skill. What we hear is “encouragement” from a seemingly confident government, but what we see is a lack of required facility to put that encouragement for ideals into effect. While some regions in Nepal may appear to uphold efficient early childhood development centres (ecd), when digging beyond that exterior, one can be sure to find unqualified teachers, in classrooms that are far from child friendly and resourceful.        

VIN therefore aims to equip school based early childhood development centres and for the first time in Nepal, provide an efficient means of education for the young. We train ECD teachers to make their classes joyful and creative for children. We supply resources for the centres and encourage teachers to collect locally available resources as well.  

VIN has also set up a Childhood Development Centre (ECD) at Panchmane Community, Jitpur, Kathmandu. We already have, on average, 16 to 20 children each year; between 4 to 6 years of age, benefiting from this program. We were able to construct a 3 room building in partnership with the local community for these kids and equipped it with child friendly furniture and materials. This centre has been implemented in partnership with the District Education Office (DEO), a government unit.   

VIN supports 9 ECDs based in 8 schools. These centers have purposefully been based in marginalized communities, which have often been shadowed during times of development effort. For these centers to function and become well equipped, VIN needs a fund of at least 350 US dollars for each of them. Any individual or organization that is interested, may support us in anyway, whether it be through donations or the simple, yet valuable offer of a helping hand. As we move forward to instill more early childhood development programs in areas such as Okhaldhunga, we hope that you will decide, in some form or another, to be a part of this empowering movement that we call change.

“After VIN’s orientation to the ECD parents, now our ECD kids are being neat & clean and most of the children are taking Tiffin from their own homes”
Gopal Gajurel, Principal teacher of Kalikasaran Lower  Secondary School

 What can a volunteer do at these centers?  

• Assist local teachers in their daily roles.
• Teach children different motor skills and kinesthetic skills.
• Play games and rhymes with children.
• Provide child care support.
• Create resources for the children.
• Take the children on excursions.
• Do a variety of other activities.

  Who can apply? Apply now, Click here

Anybody who has a strong interest in supporting children from the most marginalized communities and who enjoys working with young ones. If you have been trained in Montessori methods it will be an added advantage. Volunteers who may not feel very confident in these areas of expertise should still apply as VIN provides an orientation for the learning of these various skills before placement at the centers.

More about ECD Program

Aspects of Children’s Rights Addressed:    Right to Education, Right to Development & Right to Participation

Problems Addressed   

• Teachers not being able to adopt child friendly teaching/learning approaches in ECD classrooms, which can negatively impact the overall development of children in their early years.
• Related parties (parents and school management) are not always aware of early childhood development needs and practices, hence are unable to satisfy them.

Objective by 2012   

• Improved access for all children (3-5 yrs) to the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Program

• Improved results of ECD children in school by overall development of motor-neuron, mental, emotional and social skills.

Expected Result   

• Increased knowledge and behavior change of parents of children aged 3-5 on ECD and hygiene.
• All children of 3 to 5 years of age attending ECD programs.
• Strengthened management capacity of Management Committee of ECDs, demonstrating an increased accountability mechanism towards stakeholders.
• Increased knowledge and practical experience of ECD teachers on Child Friendly Teaching & Learning Approaches.
• ECD Curriculum and guidelines for ECD teachers developed and implemented.

Major Activities:

• Raising awareness of parents of 3-5 year-olds on developmental needs of children in their early years and practices to address, achieved through orientation briefings and mass awareness raising campaigns.
• Supporting school/community based ECDs to strengthen their management and resource-oriented skills for autonomous functioning by 2012.
• Training of ECD teachers on ECD teaching (basic to advanced level) and development of local materials.
• Training of ECD Management Committees on how to manage ECD centers effectively.
• Designing a standard format of guidelines and ECD activities applicable to all ECDs of Jitpur Phedi, and ensuring its implementation as well as monitoring its progress,

Significant Achievements to Date:

• In 2008, VIN established a community-based ECD Center at Pachmane with the help of the Community and District Education Office.
• From 2009, VIN started to work with school-based ECD Centers. Four Schools were supported with matching funds (1:2 ratio) to establish ECD Centers with child-friendly seating arrangements and educational and play materials. The ECD teachers were trained on ECD teaching/learning approaches in the same year by local staff and international volunteers.
• Matching funds support to establish ECD Centers was extended to two more public schools in 2010. Similarly, the community-based ECD center received support to construct its own building and make their classes more child-friendly. The VIN established ECD center has now 3 child friendly rooms.
• The school-based ECD centers were further strengthened with the supply of more educational and play materials.
• Many overseas volunteers participated in this program and helped local teachers and participant children learn creative activities.

Focus for 2012 and 2013:

• Efforts will be made to form a separate management committee for school-based ECD Centers and give them basic management tools and techniques for effective functioning and sustainability.
• Far-reaching outreach campaigns will be brought into operation to identify and counsel parents of current and potential ECD Center students on the needs of children in their early years, importance of ECD education and hygiene.
• A standard format of guidelines and ECD activities will be developed with the participation of ECD teachers, and its effective implementation will be enforced with regular monitoring and periodic meetings with teachers.
• Capacity of ECD teachers will be developed through training, interaction programs and workshops on ECD teaching, development of local materials, effective implementation of ECD guidelines and designed activities.

Challenges and Concerns:

A major challenge of this project is making the ECD management committee and the teachers more accountable of the children. The effective implementation of ECD guidelines and activities and also the training given to ECD teachers might be especially challenging. This can be overcome with regular monitoring and by motivating the beneficiaries involved, which is a responsibility that largely falls on the part of VIN.
If possible, insert the map of Jitpur showing ECDs.

If you want to contribute your time and skill by volunteering with children of Nepal in their early years, you can join our volunteer abroad in Nepal program of this project i.e. Child Care: Early Childhood Development and facilitate their overall development of motor, mental, social and emotional skills.

Positions Available