Six Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centers that were launched in Tajikistan last year under support of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) now successfully function in the country.
Provided with all necessary equipment the ECD Centers were launched, in particular, in Vahdat Township and Roudaki, Varzob and Faizobod districts, according to the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES).
An official source at a MoES says the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has made a noticeable contribution to creation of decent conditions for early development of children in the country.
According to him, 283 preschool children’s development centers have been established at the general educational institutions in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in collaboration with AKF. 482 teachers are reportedly engaged in educating and raising more than 6,500 children at these centers.
The Ministry of Education and Science emphasizes that it will continue cooperating with AKDN on supporting early childhood development.
Children’s development centers have functioned in the country alongside the preschool educational institutions since 2004.
As of July 1, 2018, 1,973 children’s development centers functioned in the country covering more than 52,200 children, according to Ministry of Education and Science.
The brain develops most rapidly in the first five years of a child’s life and the Aga Khan Foundation works to ensure that girls and boys have a good start in life by influencing the environments in which they are growing. Globally, AKDN’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) initiatives provide 750’000 children ages 0-8 years with nurturing, relevant and quality learning opportunities at costs that are affordable for governments, families and communities.
In 2017, AKF’s Early Childhood Development programs benefitted close to 280,000 children (ages 0-8) worldwide. Three countries (Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic) have adopted nationally AKF’s early learning model.
