Early Childhood Development
Since 2008, Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in Bangladesh has sought to improve the capacity of civil society organisations and government to increase access to and quality of early childhood development services for disadvantaged children. Working with local partners, the Foundation has directly reached over 33,000 children and parents and nearly 700 educators through ECD centres, and parenting and professional development programmes.
Current interventions include:
- The development of an innovative model to provide integrated ECD services to children of low-income working women, particularly those working in the garment sector, in and around Dhaka city. These centres provide full-day childcare and health, nutrition and early literacy interventions to children aged two to six years.
- The promotion of pluralism through children’s storybooks. A series of eleven original Bangla language storybooks with pluralism themes were developed for children aged three to eight years. The “Milemishe Thaki” (Living in Harmony) series of books was successfully piloted in government, NGO and community schools, as well as the Aga Khan School Dhaka. The books have also been translated and printed in English.
- The development and delivery of a modular, competency-based approach to professional development training for pre-primary trainers, supervisors and teachers. Developed in collaboration with Red River College (Canada), these training modules have recently been delivered to a group of government and NGO trainers and supervisors working in Dhaka and Mymensingh districts.
Other Activities
All Areas of Activities
Press Centre: Bangladesh