Diploma in Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE)

Diploma in Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) – This ECCE course is meant for teaching professionals or candidates who have completed class 12.The main focus of the ECCE course is to train the teacher in dealing with,understanding and teaching the pre primary and primary children to learn small concepts.

The framework and regulatory body for the ECCE program is the ministry of Women and Child Development.You can view the policy and framework of the WCD here.

Children of the ages between 3 and 5 are at an important phase of their childhood,after all the nursery or playschool where you will be teaching in,will be their first look at education.It will be your duty to show them a good time and also teach them tiny things.

Let us look at the hierarchy of teaching courses and their scope:

ECCE – Pre Primary,Nursery,Day Care,Montessori,Play School

D.Ed / D.El.Ed – Primary,Kindergarten

B.Ed – Class 1-8

M.Ed – Class 1-12

These are the basic class wise reach of the diplomas/degrees.

Eligibility for ECCE

In order to pursue the Early childhood education and care program, the minimum education you need to have is a class 12 exam pass or an alternative 10+2 degree.

About the course

This course has a duration of one year,similar to the other teaching diplomas.In this time you will learn all the theoretical and practical aspects of dealing with childhood education.

This can also be attempted as a part time course and students who wish to also pursue another undergraduate course at the same time may do so, as the part time course is only of weekends,however many institutes offer this as a regular course also.

Like all other teaching courses, the practical and live teaching on the job training is the most important,especially for candidates who do not have any sort of teaching experience before.

In some good institutes that offer ECCE,they might also send you to an actual play school for internship that might last a month,this is extremely helpful and you should choose an ECCE college/institute that provides an internship.

ECCE Subjects and format

Some of the subjects that you will study in the academic year of the ECCE course are:

• Principles of Early Childhood Education
• Child Development
• Methods and materials for working with young children
• Health and Nutrition of Preschoolers
• Issues and concerns related to Early childhood education

In addition to these five subjects,you will also have practical training and internship in a real playschool or nursery setup.

Future scope and job opportunities

After finishing this course you can expect to be employed in any pre primary school,nursery,day care,Montessori.

You can get the position of:

• Teaching assistant
• Pre Primary teacher
• Education consultant
• Classroom helper
• Mother Teacher

While browsing for job advertisements,make sure to check because most of these jobs are for females only.

There are many corporate preschool companies that have now made this a big business,your chances of getting a good salary of atleast Rs.25,000 a month.Also IB schools will pay you a high salary of atleast 2.5 lacs per annum CTC.

Some ECCE employers are:

• Nalanda Learning systems
• Orchids International School
• Jamia Millia Islamia
• Vibgyor group
• NCR Eduservices
• S.K. Education Pvt.Ltd
• Mothers Pride
• Akshara International School

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