Sustainable and Holistic ECD Model for Rural Areas of Pakistan: A Case Study of AW-IP Model in Hasis Village

Abstract

Grappling with the challenges in prenatal and post-natal health, antenatal
care, nutrition of mothers and children are equally important in
upbringing of a strong mind and body besides child care between 3-8
years age. Community based Agah-Walidain (Informed Parents) model
takes into account cognitive abilities, social skills, emotional
intelligence, ethics, parental engagement, health, nutrition and hygiene
by engaging communities in discourse of ECD. The model is specifically
designed and developed in Pakistan to address wide array of challenges
faced by children, families and communities. The model has potential to
be scaled up in rural settings with scarce resources, poor infrastructure
and limited access. The family support motivators help the communities
to establish conducive environments within homes and villages for
holistic development of children. The participation of community based
organizations ensures financial sustainability and continuation of AgahWalidain Programme. This paper assesses the effectiveness and potential
of Agah-Walidain model in remote, isolated and marginalized setting of
Hasis Village in Gilgit-Baltistan. It also attempts to explore the potential
of cost effective community based ECD model for extension to other
parts of Pakistan. The integration between different stakeholders and
agencies including parents, community members, teachers and other civil
society agencies like VO's, WO's, makes the community based programs
like AW-IP more sustainable by generating the social capital in terms of
cooperation for mutual action to bring in long-term sustainable change.