CLR provides strategic support to ICDS Bihar for its rollout of ECCE services as required under National ECCE Policy, 2013 and in accordance with National ECCE Curriculum Framework. This involves helping ICDS Bihar in developing institutional capacities for implementing the National ECCE Policy 2013, and developing leadership capacities at district and sub-district level through ICDS Leadership Programme (ILP) to ensure that an effective ECCE programme is implemented in the anganwadis of two selected districts (Purnia and Gaya) as a first phase for wider adoption of a similar approach to state-wide capacity-building.

The ICDS Leadership Programme (ILP) has been designed by CLR as a 9-cycle intervention aimed at district-level ICDS officers to help them lead their respective sub-organisations in delivering an effective ECCE programme. It has been implemented in several states, including in collaboration with UNICEF in Chhattisgarh and UP.

CLR has designed a nine-cycle curriculum, aimed at developing ICDS Staff leadership skills in the three critical areas, taking their role beyond the administrative to three other critical areas (administrative areas are covered as part of institutional leadership):

Pedagogical Leadership

If AWC’s have to fulfil their role as providers of holistic child-care, the ICDS Staff clearly need a much deeper and sharper understanding of the curriculum and the daily schedule that would ensure such delivery. This includes understanding, for instance:·why particular ways of structuring the time children spend in the anganwadi are more appropriate than others·, what kind of materials can support children’s learning better and why·, how to determine whether the right atmosphere for the children in the AWC exists and help AWC staff foster it, etc.These are matters broadly thought of as pedagogical. For ICDS Staff to provide effective leadership to their anganwadi system, they need to have a good understanding of its key principles and delivery modes, even if they are not experts at it.

If AWC’s have to fulfil their role as providers of holistic child-care, the ICDS Staff clearly need a much deeper and sharper understanding of the curriculum and the daily schedule that would ensure such delivery. This includes understanding, for instance:

• why particular ways of structuring the time children spend in the anganwadi are more appropriate than others
• what kind of materials can support children’s learning better and why
• how to determine whether the right atmosphere for the children in the AWC exists and help AWC staff foster it, etc.

These are matters broadly thought of as pedagogical. For ICDS Staff to provide effective leadership to their anganwadi system, they need to have a good understanding of its key principles and delivery modes, even if they are not experts at it.

Institutional Leadership

CDPO’s are the heads of a substantial-sized system with multiple objectives and sometimes conflicting priorities. They are responsible for the output of anganwadis, which they control not directly, but through Supervisors. Key institutional expectations from them are that they will have:

• motivation strategies to effectively motivate the staff structure under them,
• supervision strategies which not only monitor but also support the work that the supervisors and the anganwadi staff do,
• process strategies to ensure that implementation operates in such a way as to produce good, balanced outcomes

Effective ICDS Staff will understand the systemic linkages that can make some strategies for achieving their organisational goals more likely to succeed. They will understand which levers offer the greatest potential for change with the least effort and expense. Importantly, they will have the skill to engage key parts of the system to achieve this.

Community Leadership

Parent education is one key pillar of ICDS, and at home the youngest children need a continuation of the support they receive in an ideal AWC. ICDS Staff, therefore, need to have the skills and the abilities to:

• understand the communities
• communicate child development needs to them effectively
• represent ICDS to them as its public face

Public’s understanding of the purpose and objectives of ICDS is generally extremely limited across the country. A well-functioning public interface can bring community resources and public support to the anganwadi system. ICDS Staff need the leadership skills to harness it using the various resources at their command.

ILP is based on CLR’s Triple Hat leadership development process, developed and used for a number of different government education systems in several states of the country. This recognises the fact that each level in the operational hierarchy has the most contact with, the most influence upon and the most contextual understanding of the level immediately below it. It is, therefore, in the best position to serve as an effective trainer, mentor and monitor for this lower level.

If AWC’s have to fulfil their role as providers of holistic child-care, the ICDS Staff clearly need a much deeper and sharper understanding of the curriculum and the daily schedule that would ensure such delivery. This includes understanding, for instance: · why particular ways of structuring the time children spend in the anganwadi are more appropriate than others, what kind of materials can support children’s learning better and why, how to determine whether the right atmosphere for the children in the AWC exists and help AWC staff foster it, etc. These are matters broadly thought of as pedagogical. For ICDS Staff to provide effective leadership to their anganwadi system, they need to have a good understanding of its key principles and delivery modes, even if they are not experts at it.