Children learning centre inaugurated in Salooni

Our Correspondent

Salooni (Chamba), April 13

The first dedicated children’s library and activity centres of the state government are all set to be opened for the public in the Salooni subdivision of Chamba district. The first such children learning centre was inaugurated by Salooni Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Kiran Bhadana at Talori on Tuesday, while the second such centre in Salooni is scheduled to open on Friday.

“These centres have been built with the purpose of nurturing the natural curiosity of children through play and instilling a habit of reading among them from young age,” Bhadana said.

As many as 200 books in English and Hindi have been made available in each of the centres for children in the 3 to 15 year age group. Besides, a wide range of materials for fun-and-learning activity, including puzzles, globes, modeling clay, trampolines, games and toys, have been procured.

Even floors at the centres have been designed as educational tool, following the Building as Learning Aid (BaLA) system that incorporates the building itself as a learning aid.

In setting up these centres, the SDM has preferred to augment existing unused and underutilised infrastructure of the area rather than building new infrastructure from the scratch — a model she had successfully applied previously while setting up five libraries in Salooni for the youth and aspirants preparing for state service examinations.

These centres were set-up with the help of CSR funding provided by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) which was facilitated by the Deputy Commissioner of Chamba DC Rana. Sundla panchayat pradhan Deep Raj and Salooni Vyapar Mandal president Pawan Kumar too played an important role, she said.

Bhadana said, “Anganwadi workers of the areas concerned have been tasked with running and overseeing the functioning of such centres.”

Bhadana hoped that the learning centres would not only provide the children a platform to learn through activities, but also set a new benchmark for the functioning of anganwadi centres leading to integrated early childhood development.