Lesson 32 : Day Care Center- Types and Requirements
Balwadi
The Balwadi, which is a Hindi name for a pre-school, is making a new and important beginning in rural areas. The agencies of Community Development and Central Social Welfare Board have established several thousand Balwadis in the Indian villages.
The main object of a Balwadi is to provide all the basic amenities to a child necessary for his physical growth and mental development both in the home and outside. Thus, a Balwadi should aim at developing an integrated programme for meeting the physical, mental, intellectual, and social needs of the child. For this purpose, a close working relationship of various institutions, departments and agencies concerned with health, nutrition, education, recreation and general welfare of the child is necessary. In particular, the functions of a Balwadi are:
To help the child in its physical growth by
Immunization against diseases like diphtheria, whoop· ing cough, typhoid, T.B., cholera, smallpox, etc.
health check-up at the time of admission to Balwadi
follow-up with medical aid from the nearest' health centre
provision of balanced meals or supplementary nutritive diet in the Balwadi after studying the home conditions
Healthful recreation.
To help the child in development of senses-touch, taste, smell, sight and sound.
To help the child to learn the art of social adjustment with a view to developing healthy relationship with other children and adults.
To train the child to take care of itself and to encourage formation of healthy habits and aptitudes.
To develop the child's intellectual capacity and to give it opportunities to explore, investigate and experiment within its environments.
To give training in discipline, regularity and concentration and to teach him the beginning of language and numbers.
To encourage manual dexterity through various equipment so as to enable him to handle things around him.
To provide day care to children of pre-school age.
