New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) From making simple crafts and doing small exercises to figuring out why some objects float while others sink, children in MCD schools will soon be encouraged to turn everyday activities at home into learning exercises with their parents.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is introducing a new initiative under which parents will receive short, easy-to-follow activities and audio-visual content that they can do with their children at home, with the aim of strengthening foundational learning and making parents more actively involved in their children’s education.
Officials said the initiative marks the first time the MCD is introducing such structured, play-based activities for parents to undertake with their children at home, moving learning beyond conventional classroom lessons.
“A parent may, for instance, sit with a child and use a container of water and objects such as a spoon, marble, eraser or small ball to help the child understand which objects float and which sink,” a senior MCD official told PTI.
He added that other activities in the content library include simple arts and crafts, such as making a flower, along with small physical exercises and videos aimed at encouraging positive behaviour and greater interaction between parents and children.
The initiative, Pratibhagita, will focus on children in the pre-primary age group of three to six years, while a separate component will extend parental engagement and regular communication to students in primary classes.
The officials said the programme was aimed at making the home environment an extension of the child’s learning space.
“The objective is to improve parental engagement. Instead of parents only receiving information from the school, they will also get simple activities and messages which they can use while spending time with their children,” another official said.
The content will be sent in short formats so that parents can easily understand and carry out the activities. Some videos are animated while others feature real people demonstrating the activity.
Rocket Learning, a non-profit organisation working in the area of early childhood education and parental engagement, is collaborating with the MCD for the initiative.
A representative of the organisation said the activities have been developed keeping children’s age and learning needs in mind and are drawn from its existing content library.
“The content is designed keeping all of that in mind. Some of the videos are animated and some are live-action, and they are short so that parents can easily engage with them,” the representative said.
She added that the programme will be implemented across MCD schools in all its 12 zones. The content will be circulated through existing school-parent communication groups, allowing the organisation and the civic body to reach parents without requiring individual communication with each family.
The initiative will also cover children in Classes 1 to 5, though the nature of the intervention will be different for primary students.
For these students, parents will not receive the pre-primary activity-based learning content. Instead, the programme will use the platform to strengthen communication between schools and parents, with information from the MCD’s education department, student-related updates, details of civic initiatives and other general announcements.
“Every week, we will be sending information to the groups. We are leveraging our platform for Classes 1 to 5 for parental engagement because the platform is already built for this,” the Rocket Learning representative said.
This means a parent of a younger child could receive an activity to do together at home, while parents of children in primary classes could receive regular information to help them stay connected with what is happening in their child’s school.
The programme will also seek to keep parents involved rather than relying only on the initial distribution of videos.
“Appreciation and recognition will be used to encourage participation, with the organisation discussing gold and silver-level recognition for parents who actively engage with the activities,” the representative said.
The initiative is expected to begin after its formal launch on August 24.
Rocket Learning has previously worked with government systems on early childhood and foundational learning, including the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and has undertaken parental engagement work in erstwhile East Delhi municipal schools. PTI MSJ MSJ KSS KSS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.