Lanjigarh,Odisha :Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh, India’s premier producer of metallurgical grade alumina,recently concluded its month-long skill augmentationprogrammefor anganwadi workers, geared towards improving the quality of early childhood education inthe districts of Kalahandi, Rayagada, Ganjam and Dhenkanal in Odisha.
The programme was developed and implemented in collaboration with Sesame Workshop India, which conducted the training across Vedanta’s Nand Ghars in the aforementioned districts.Project Nand Ghar transformsanganwadis, a national network of child care centres, intocrucial hubs of community progressbyaugmenting them with improved educational infrastructure, well-trained staff, and development programmes focussed on education, nutrition, healthcare and skill development.
Over 194 Nand Ghars were covered under the initiative, which aimedat augmenting the skillset ofanganwadi staffthrough trainingsfocused on buildingsocio-emotionallearning, pre-literacy, pre-numeracy and fostering an overall development in the quality of early childhood education. 15 Lady Supervisors and 9 Child Development Project Officers (CDPO) from the Government of Odisha were also provided training under this initiative.
Speaking about the programme, Mr GG Pal, Dy. CEO – Alumina Business, Vedanta Limited, said, “Vedanta Lanjigarh has consistently focused on enabling communities to empower themselves from the very grassroots, and education is the best tool to achieve this. The capacity-building programme is yet another milestone in our journey towards ensuring the holistic development of women and children in the community. It gives me joy to think of the thousands of children whostand to benefit from the enhanced skillsets of the anganwadi staff, and the consequent rise in the quality of early childhood education in these districts.”
Ms. Bijayshree Singh, CDPO, Lanjigarhalso shared her views, saying, “This training will be a very useful tool in our efforts to improve the educational opportunitiesavailable topre-school children in the region. The training helped us understand and learnwell-balanced methods of inculcating games and stories into the curriculum of the children, which will help them absorb learnings better and make them more enthusiastic about their education.”
The training toolsimparted included a mix of innovative educational approaches, stories and games to make the learning experience engaging for the children. One Anganwadi worker and helper from each of the Nand Ghars were provided the training, aiding them in positively impactingthe lives of over 6000 children agedbetween 3-6 years who attend the Nand Ghars.
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.26 million tonnes in FY22. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 4th in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2021 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its sustainable development practices. The company operates a 2 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) capacity alumina refinery in Lanjigarh (Kalahandi district, Odisha), India since 2007 and an associated 75 MW captive power plant. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.