A team of four members from BRAC Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University (BIED, BRAC U) along with a member from BRAC International visited Uganda and Tanzania to conduct workshops on curriculum development for 3-4 year old children under BRAC Play Lab Project. The workshops were held in Uganda and Tanzania on February 9-12 and 16-18, 2016 respectively. The team, accompanied bythe representatives from LEGO Foundation, visited preschool centers of rural and semi urban areas to get an idea about local context in Uganda and Tanzania on the day before the workshop.
The objectives of the workshopwere: (i) to design framework of play labs for 3-4 year old children (ii) to develop a play based curriculum for 3-4 year old children. Design of the play labs framework and curriculum activities were developed through the discussion with workshop participants. A sharing meeting was organized on the last day of the workshop which was attended by experts from different organizations who are working in the field of Early Childhood Development including the local Ministryof Education, Department of Education Standards, Kyambogo University, UNICEF, Plan International and Aga Khan Foundation.The workshop in Tanzania was designed and facilitated differently than in Uganda. Staff from BRAC Tanzania and experts from different organizations including the local Ministry of Gender and Children, Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE), Right to Play, Tanzania ECD Network (TECDEN) actively participated in this workshop. The major outcomes of this workshop were development of one third of the curriculum activities, a list of play materials, process and contents of basic training as well as equipment for the centers. It has been planned that BRAC Tanzania with the support of experts will develop the rest of the activities immediately after the workshop since the full year curriculum is required to be submitted to the Ministry of Tanzania for approval.