Srinagar, Dec. 12 -- Over 3,000 "aayas" (early childhood care and education helpers- ECCE) from various schools of Kashmir valley have concluded their capacity building training with educationists expecting a major boost to children's health, hygiene, psychological support and introduction of play-way activities at pre-primary level in valley's government schools. The month-long training of the aayas from November 3 to December 9 was provided across all the 10 districts of Kashmir in collaboration with the state council of educational research and training (SCERT-KD), UNICEF, and the Jammu & Kashmir Association of Social Workers (JKASW). Officials said that the initiative was being hailed by educationists as the watershed event in the education landscape and being the largest capacity-building exercise for school support staff in the region with the prospect of translating into holistic development of children. "Each district trained 300 aayas through a phased schedule conducted between November 3 and December 9," an official said. Earlier on October 30, education minister Sakina Itoo had kickstarted the orientation programme for the aayas. Over 8,000 aayas currently support pre-primary education across Kashmir division of which 3,000 were provided the training. The officials said the training focused on equipping them with essential skills, clarity on responsibilities and an understanding of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) framework. Senior consultant of JKASW, Ambreen Bashir, said the association offered logistical and technical support throughout the training programme. "From every district around 300 Aayas were trained. They were told about classroom scenarios, importance of hygiene, hand washing technique, their role in MDM and how to support a teacher," Bashir said....