Assessment of nutritional status of children using new WHO child growth standards is recognized as an important tool. The growth of children is regularly monitored and recorded in separate growth charts for boys and girls as per the new WHO child growth standards. Height and Weight of children are monitored and recorded monthly.

Teachers identify children who are malnourished and categorize them as undernourished and severely undernourished. Sampark’s focus is to provide well-balanced nutrition of 600-800 calories per day to a child at the creche excluding dinner which they eat at home. Undernourished children are given a special diet to ensure growth and well-being.

Health check-ups are conducted periodically to check for illnesses, nutritional status and gaps in growth of children. Regular diseases like cough, cold, skin rash, fever are identified, and medicines are prescribed by doctors.

Linkages with Public health centres(PHC) or hospitals are done for children who need regular treatment and medication. Children are linked to PHCs to receive their age-appropriate immunization. Follow-up is done with parents to ensure they are taken on a timely basis. Children receive multivitamins and supplements to tackle iron deficiency and to ensure better absorption of nutrients.

Pregnant women in the labor colonies are identified and linked to anganwadi centres to receive their mother cards. Mother cards provides regular nutrition and pre- and post-natal medicines to pregnant women and lactating mothers

Each category of children follow a set age-appropriate curriculum. Children are taught in 3 languages – Hindi, Kannada and English as they come from different states. According to the curriculum there are activities for the holistic development of children such as physical, linguistic, social and numerical abilities.

ECCD Centers  are equipped with fun learning materials, toys, puzzles, colouring books and charts which stimulates a fun learning environment for children. Child-friendly furniture and equipment ensures children reach out to learning materials by themselves and involve in their favourite learning activity. Basic alphabets, numerals and songs are introduced to them, which help in their school readiness.

Sampark teachers have facilitated admissions for over 5,500 children – of above six years of age into government schools in compliance with the Right to Education Act of the Government of India. Schools respond positively to children who have attended Sampark’s ECCD Centers , as children reach learning levels comparable to their peers.

Sampark closed all The ECCD Centers from 13th March 2020 to May 2020 due to the pandemic. With the recent update from the Education Department, ECCD Centers were allowed to remain open for the first half of the day.

• ECCD helpers in the community supported teachers to coordinate the activities. Groceries, eggs, bananas, and snacks are distributed fortnightly as a replacement for cooked meals provided in centers.
• Teachers monitored children’s height and weight and linked them to PHCs for age-appropriate immunization. Builders conducted health camps to check the temperature and for symptoms.
• More than 100 educational videos were made by teachers using flash cards, stories, songs in different languages and circulated to parents through WhatsApp groups created with parents.
• Children with no access to recorded videos, teachers provided gadgets to show the videos to children.
• Teachers made individual house visits in the community to check with parents and motivate them to show the videos to children on a daily basis. Stationery, worksheets, and coloring books were distributed periodically to engage them productively.