WHAT IS CENDI
Mexico. Child Development Centers from the popular front “Tierra y Libertad”. CENDI
Mission
The Child Development Centers from the popular front “Tierra y Libertad” constitute an initial and preschool education project since 1990. The Institution's main interest is focused on quality early development. Its mission is to provide educational high quality services for children and working mothers from poor areas, starting with 45 days' old babies until they turn 6, bringing their comprehensive development, through pedagogical, medical, psychological, nutritional and social attention.
CENDI's educational model is based on social justice, equality and educational quality. The program intends to be an alternative solution to promote social, cultural, and human development of the population from areas in extreme poverty, supporting women in the labor market after providing access to education and care for their children.
The philosophy of work is to accomplish elemental principles of equality and social justice in quality education for children in vulnerable conditions. CENDI's parameters of work are based on values, love and professionalism, quality and continuous improvement.
Cultural Context
Centers are located in urban marginal and poor zones within the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, that has a population of more than 3.5 million. High malnutrition, unemployment, mortality, alcoholism, drugs, gangs, and low educational levels are characteristic of these poor areas. 85% of these families are considered of low social status and only 15% medium-low.
Program description and general approach
The project orientation integrates different approaches in a dialectic way, making a priority the children's comprehensive development and rights, and equality and justice principles.
The institutional program is based on other two programs: Initial Education (45 days to 3 years of age) and Preschool Education (from 3 to 5 years of age). The program has three basic frameworks: conceptual, operational and content, derived from three basic development areas: personal, social and environmental.
Program instrumentation takes place within the organizational framework where specific staff roles are defined. This stage is particularly important because such councils are responsible of planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating processes. CENDI organizes and materializes its actions based on the norms and guidelines established by the Secretariat of Education, and the Coordination with the Initial Education Department through the Director of the program.
CENDI offers the Initial education and Preschool programs already established in the country. Such programs are strengthen by other programs enabling the use of technology, providing the tools to face future challenges (English language and computers), and allowing the expression of artistic and physical potentialities (music, dance, painting, sports and karate).
CENDI includes 11 Child development centers, each one assisted by 57 workers from which 80% are women and 20% are men. Assistants and specialists are in charge of the pedagogical work. They assist 2,500 children in 11 CENDIs and 2,000 from the non-formal programs “Learning Together” and Parents' Program. The Parents' School program needs to be strengthen through institutional and non-formal approaches, as a strategy to improve family and children's life.
Areas of work include filter, Medical Area, Social Work, Management, Meeting Room and Administrative Area. In addition, there are 9 rooms for each level of attention: nursing, maternal and preschool. The nutrition area includes one dining room for nursing babies, another general dining room, milk bank and storage. The Psychology area includes a Gessell camera and one room for assistance. There are other facilities such as bathrooms for children, English and computer labs, and auditoriums.
The facilities include open spaces with gardens and patios for recreation and civic activities. These areas are of great significance since they enable free leaning from self-interest using the motivation of games that constitute the main learning tool during the years of life. All educational innovations aim to the disadvantaged situation of children and their families. CENDI's interaction with the children, family and community sets the key principles for breaking the poverty cycle and promote human and social development.
The non-formal program “Learning together” represents the most recent innovation for children and families in a community. Such program is structured in four stages: 1. Training of coordination team, 2. Recognition and familiarization with the community, 3.Training of promoters team 4. Implementation stage, 5. Monitoring and control
The institution has developed a standardized model in its organization, operation and implementation, with processes in the key areas of education, nutrition, health, and emotional interaction and equilibrium in three levels of attention, nursing babies, maternal and preschool.
Since 1996, the institution decided to participate in the design of the Quality Administration Model with the advisory from the National and State Quality Direction, and adopted it as the system and work style. Such innovation lead to a continuous improvement in all processes consolidating personal and organizational learning, systematizing educational experiences and sustaining a positive influence within the community and other institutions.
CENDI's councils have enabled an effective structure of the work by specialization areas, and Quality Councils have allowed effective ways of working through participation, coordination and results. Administration and Social self-administration constitutes another work methodology that guarantees the sustainability of the project. Furthermore, the comprehensive evaluation of child's development as a scientific method constitutes a key experience, together with the continuous and multidisciplinary raining for personnel.
Evolution and implementation of the program
In 1990, the women from Monterrey's Popular Urban Movement obtained funds from the Federal government to build five buildings for marginal children's initial education, such buildings constitute now the Child Development Centers from the popular front “Tierra y Libertad”. They started activities with 1,200 children.
Then, the Public Education Secretariat (S.E.P.) assumed training, advising and selection of personnel through the Department of Initial Education. The program established academic links with the Latin American and Caribbean Pedagogical Institute (IPLAC) and exchange programs with Cuban Children Circles.
In 1999, the project “Child Development Centers from the popular Tierra y Libertad” was founded and obtained the National Quality Prize for CENDI No. 3 “José Martí”.
The institution has gained prestige and recognition as a quality organization and leader in the sector, and has been proposed as row model to implement in Family Development daycare centers (D.I.F) in municipalities.
To the year 2001 the program covers 4,500 children, benefiting 2,500 families living in poverty. 70% of children live in marginal areas, 15% are descendants from CENDI's employees and 15% are the rest. The “Learning Together” program includes a multidisciplinary team providing care and educational services to children from 0 to 6 years of age.
Training and capacity building
The program implemented a continuous and multidisciplinary training system, which is revised and assessed every year. Such training takes place in two levels: Training for work and knowledge and skills development.
Educators and employees attend to forums, workshops, projects and international events, and promote their professional development through the completion of a Masters' program in Initial and Preschool Education. 90% of educators and technicians attend to the Masters program that represents a collaborative effort the Technological Institute for Superior Studies on Monterey, the Latin American and Caribbean Pedagogical Institute, the Latin American Reference Center for special Education and the Latin American Reference Center for Preschool education from Cuba.
Training by areas of specialization includes health, nutrition, psychology and pedagogy, whereas training by processes for program directors includes adaptation and physical control, etc. The continuous training system is constantly evaluated through a survey that measures the levels of satisfaction of the personnel with the activities.
Funding and support structure
From 1990 to 1994, all funds come from the National Solidarity Program and private and parents donations. Then, the Public Education Secretariat started subsidizing the program and that, together with donations constitutes the source of funds. The major expenses are centrally administered and they include food for children, salaries, infrastructure and equipment. The daily cost per child is $ 46.95 Mexican pesos.
Lessons learned: key indicators of success
The project has social impact in three areas:
§ Providing early stimulation and education to poor children, develops their physical, social and mental skills, building a support base for becoming productive citizens to their own benefit, their families' and society's
§ The School for parents educates them in aspects that contribute to the development of children, with subjects such as education, public health, environmental programs, family integration and campaigns against addiction.
§ CENDI empower communities to work for their own change through the community action programs such as health fairs, campaigns against addiction, strengthening of family integration against violence. Additionally, the “Learning Together” program provides non-formal initial education to children not covered by the other programs.
The Model for Quality Services supports the educational process allowing to adopt best practices from other national and foreign institutions and to have on time responses and satisfaction to clients.
In the last four years, the program was awarded with 4 prizes. Lessons learned during years of work include the educational project, administration and self-administration, leadership, social impact, strategic and operational, evaluation systems, continuous training and quality administration.
Another indicator of success has been the capacity to face scarcity of resources and get the support from communities besides the financial support from the government and private institutions.
The participative leadership allows staff to get involved in administration tasks. The human component and communication are key aspects for leadership.
Training constitutes another key aspect guaranteeing high quality services in coherence with the strategic and operational plans.
Outlook
§ Improve comprehensive development of 2,500 children and the quality of the children's assessment system through a new educational research process.
§ Wider coverage of the non-formal program from 2,000 to 2,500 children, and assist 5,000 people during each school year.
§ Build two new centers in areas of extreme poverty.
§ Continue being a world class organization, center for reference in Latin America and local and national model in educational quality projects for young children in disadvantage.
Evaluation of the program
The evaluation process is designed, implemented and monitored by the Conclusive Technical Council with tools according to national parameters. The evaluation process takes place in three stages during the school cycle:
a) Initial or diagnosis...........................August and September
b) Medium ........................................January
c) Final or annual...............................July
The evaluation process begins with educational research and scientific evaluation systems, surveys to measure levels of satisfaction and response to expectations of all educational community. The common methods are observation and suggestions box. The Consultative Technical Council guarantees quality in key processes with improvement cycles as a result of systematic evaluation of processes.
Children's development assessment is made by the Consultative Technical Council and includes normative evaluation elements as well as innovative evaluation tools and indicators for all service areas (pedagogical, medical, psychological and social work). Such system has been enriched by research studies developed in 1996 and 2000 by CENDI. All other subjects are also evaluated by teachers or through surveys.
Additionally, the results from the new educational research on the evolution of language from 0 to 6 years of age, reveal that the institution is unfolding towards a non-formal program.
CENDI is managed with a unique and innovative system from planning, organization, evaluation, supervision, control, and monitoring, to implementation of other programs seeking to overcome the unsatisfied social needs of children and families.
Advocacy
Using the “leadership survey”, the program aims to measure the level of staff satisfaction with the institution.
Source: CENDI, 2002, Report to OAS, Guadalupe Rodríguez Martínez.