Bhadrapur, Apr. 6: The community-based primary children’s development centres are doing good jobs in training children in rural areas of Jhapa, thanks to the active initiative taken by UNICEF, local development unit and various NGO’s.

Those centres provide daily four hours of basic education in homely environment to three to five years old children deprived of schooling facility. The centre provides educational materials such as books, writing copies, pen and pencils. The centres have evolved an environment of kindergarten tailored to the needs of the children who learn by singing, dancing, drawing pictures, and making dolls. Bulk of those getting such education are the children from poor, helpless, and depress and downtrodden communities.

At the centres the tiny tots who were once timid, shy and dispirited develop such qualities as fearlessness (in talking with any one), discipline, smartness, cheerfulness, good conduct towards their juniors and seniors, gentleness and creativity, says Prem Kumar Sangden, member of the board of directors of Sombare Child Development Centre. Pancha Maya Rai, a septuagenarian from Dipjyoti locality, Bahundagi, says, “These days my grand children force her to tell stories about tigers, lions, bears and other wild animals at night and every morning they wash their hands and face and hardly go to bed without washing their feet. They sing and dance to cheer us up too.”

These centres are receiving accolades for the successes it has achieved in cultivating such qualities as  dedication and creativeness in the children and sharpen their intellect.

Kaushila Kharel, Seto Guras NGO worker from Jhapa, says these centres have gained tremendous popularity within a short span of time.

With their growing popularity, twenty such centres have already got off the ground in Jhapa district with the help of UNICEF and the local units.