It was a pleasure to welcome the UNICEF Education team to TRC, on Thursday May 22, 2008. The team of Education Officers (about 18 in number) from Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Islamabad, were accompanied by Ms. Perseveranda So, Chief Education Section, Islamabad.

About the purpose of the visit, Shahla R. Din, Education Specialist, Karachi, wrote in her
e-mail:  ” The purpose of our visit is to have an orientation on ECE – or ECD, and see/understand different approaches being taken for adaptation and replication in different provinces.  We feel that ECE is a very important investment in children’s futures – and would like to learn from your experience.”

At TRC, they explored the range of teaching-learning resources we have developed. They purchased sets of all our teachers’ guides, videos and our new interactive CD-ROM “Nurturing Creativity” … we gave them sets of our research publications and the new UNESCO supported ECE advocacy booklet for decision makers. They were particularly excited when they saw all the creative literacy, numeracy and science resources and ideas for 3 – 5 and 6 – 8 year olds, developed from “junk material” (old boxes, packing material, bottles and caps and other house hold recyclable materials). Perseveranda had seen similar material many years ago in the Phillipines and was really pleased to see what we have done with junk.
After telling them TRC’s ” Story of ECE” from 1986 to the formalisation of the National ECE Curriculum and beyond, we set out to visit The ECE Centre managed by the Local Body Wing Education Department, in Liaquatabad. There were very few children that day, because it was exam time/end of term and the little ones had gone home with older siblings in nearby schools. The visitors sat on the mat and at the little tables and chatted with the children. One little girl asked Perseveranda how she had come here … was it on a plane? One of the Officers from Punjab was given tea by a little group who were in the Home Corner and then they cooked some rice and chicken for him. It was such a joy for everyone to allow the child within, to step out for a while 🙂