Minister for Education, Social Welfare, Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo addressed the Orientation Program for capacity building of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) AAYAS (helpers) at J&K State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) Bemina here today.

The programme was organised by J&K SCERT in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Association of Social Workers (JKASW) and UNICEF, under the Theme “Poshan, Pyaar Aur Parvarish - Nurturing Young Lives with Care”.

Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education, Shantamanu; Director General School Education Kashmir, Dr. G.N Itoo; Secretary JKBOSE, Ghulam Hassan Sheikh; Joint Directors of School Education Kashmir, CEOs, ZEOs, representatives of UNICEF and J&K Association for Social Workers, Aayas from different paarts of Kashmir and other stakeholders were also present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, Minister Sakeena emphasized the government’s unwavering commitment to nurturing young minds through inclusive, child-centered, and play-based learning. She added that this orientation programme is a significant step towards strengthening the foundation of quality education in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Minister highlighted that early education serves as the cornerstone for cognitive, emotional and social growth, and lays the groundwork for lifelong learning and success of a child. “Early childhood care is the most formative stage in child’s life and Government’s vision is to ensure that every child in Jammu and Kashmir receives quality early education to instil curiosity, creativity and confidence among children”, she stated.

The Minister underlined the Government’s vision to strengthen early childhood care and foundational education system in J&K, highlighting the need for trained and empathetic helpers to ensure holistic development for all children, especially those from marginalized sections. She added that orientation programmes like these are vital in realizing this goal.

While speaking on the significance of orientation programme, Minister Sakeena called upon the participants and Aayas to make most of this orientation in order to acquaint themselves about the ideals of basic education and care for early childhood. She added that the Aayas are very talented and possess high educational qualifications for nurturing and supporting young children in government institutions through improved care, nutrition and psychosocial support.

The Minister lauded the efforts of AAYAS for working dedicatedly and honestly, highlighting that they have active role to play in advancing the objectives of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which places strong emphasis on early childhood education.

Additional Chief Secretary & Director, SCERT, Shantamanu in his address applauded the collaborative efforts of SCERT, JKASW and UNICEF, highlighting that this programme defines the commitment of department to strengthen ECCE practices across Jammu and Kashmir. He encouraged educators and caregivers to adopt innovative and inclusive teaching methodologies that align with local culture, language and community needs.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Joint Director Education, Syed Shabir highlighted broad contours of this orientation programme, adding that the focus of orientation is to improve the understanding of the participants on ECCE and roles and responsibility of ECCE AAYAs.

The orientation of Aayas was facilitated by Babra Shabir (SCERT) and Ambreen Bashir (JKASW), with a focus to improve the understanding of participants on ECCE and roles and responsibility of ECCE AAYAs.

Pertinently, this orientation of Aayas marks a significant milestone in advancing Early Childhood Care and Education across Jammu and Kashmir. The partnership among the Government, JKASW and UNICEF signals expanded opportunities for ECCE Aayas to receive specialized training and resources, ultimately benefiting thousands of young learners from vulnerable backgrounds.

The process of the cascading began with the training of 65 Master Trainers across the Kashmir division, who will train 3000 Aayas at DIET level across 10 districts commencing from 3rd November to 8th December 2025 in first Phase. JKASW with the support from UNICEF will provide the technical and logistic support to train the target Aayas during the course of training.