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Urdu Version
Early childhood
development is the make or break period in a person’s life
that influences the make up of the whole society, speakers emphasised
this at the Symposium on Early Child Development (ECD), organised
by Aga Khan University Human Development Programme (AKU-HDP).
In a fascinating
presentation about the impact of ECD on human development, Dr. Fraser
Mustard, Founding Trustee of the Aga Khan University and Founding
President of The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, warned
against the consequences of poor investment in ECD. He presented
results of studies in areas of neuroscience, health, behaviour and
literacy that prove a correlation of adverse early child development
circumstances and common sociological and health problems like criminality,
drug abuse, depression, coronary diseases, diabetes, obesity and
blood pressure. He described how improper progress can affect the
expression of the genetic structure of a child resulting in dysfunction.
Level of literacy, language skills and IQ are also set by the age
of six, he pointed out.
Dr Mustard stressed
that knowledge of brain development gives us an opportunity to establish
prosperous, healthy, tolerant, pluralistic, sustainable, democratic
societies with much less violence. Failure to close this gap, he
emphasised, could put human experiments in civilisation at risk.
Dr Mustard concluded with this further challenge, “Why is
there such a gap between what we know and what we do?”
Dr Jim Irvine,
former Director of AKU-HDP, stressed that when early child development
programmes address health, nutrition, stimulation and interaction
in an integrated manner, there can be immediate benefits for children
and their families that will continue through schooling, into adult
life. Dr Irvine also urged the group to form viable partnerships;
use realistic programming; and strive to reduce inequalities of
access for disadvantaged children.
Dr Gulzar Kanji,
Visiting Faculty, Aga Khan University, formerly Head, Aga Khan University-Institute
for Educational Development Professional Development Centre, Northern
Areas, advised participants to be cautious in research, asking if
measures arising from studies in the richer world can be universally
applied to all situations and contexts. She urged that measures
and studies take into account the wider cultural and linguistic
contexts, the devastating impact of grinding poverty, and infections
of epidemic proportions. She shared valuable research experiences
from East Africa and Northern Pakistan.
Earlier Dr.
Camer Vellani, Acting Director of AKU-HDP welcomed over 150 participants
from the region, and beyond, including Canada, Bangladesh and Africa.
The Symposium,
entitled ‘Early Child Development Programmes: Enabling Evidence-Based
Practice and Policy,’ was AKU-HDP’s second international
gathering. It will provide a forum for future discussion on practice
and policy to support ECD, particularly in developing countries.
The Human Development
Programme, an initiative of AKU that works with partners across
the Aga Khan Development Network, brings together multi-disciplinary
research and education to understand and influence biological and
social determinants of human development in various stages of life,
Early Child Development (ECD) in particular. AKU-HDP promotes evidence-based
policy and practice that will enable populations to achieve their
potential for learning, health and well being.
This symposium
was part of AKU’s continued commitment to research and dissemination
of information. The University appreciates that the endemic problems
of a region beset with financial difficulties and low development
indicators can be addressed only through relevant research focusing
on producing low cost, accessible and innovative solutions.
Urdu Version
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