Dr. Vellani is a distinguished Professor at the Aga Khan University (AKU), Karachi and the Planning Coordinator of Aga Khan University’s Human Development Programme, (AKU-HDP). His research interests range from health services for economically under-privileged communities, cardiology and Early Child Development.

AKU-HDP is dedicated to enhancing human development through enhanced Early Childhood Development (ECD) which it seeks to achieve through integrated community-based ECD programme, multidisciplinary research, capacity building and advocacy.

Youshey Zakiuddin of the Sindh Education Foundation interviews Dr. Vellani on the importance of the early years in a child’s overall development and the challenges of child development in Pakistan.

Why are the early years so important for learning? What are the limitations on a child who is deprived of learning opportunities during these early years?

That’s a critical question. There isn’t a simple straightforward answer because there really isn’t sufficient understanding of this critical period of development that occurs well before the child ever gets to school, and what is most remarkable of all is that it is in this period when sensory inputs actually result in structural changes of the brain. Sensory inputs are means of learning and they also determine how the brain is connected.

The other remarkable thing is the part of the brain, the cortex. The earliest development takes place in the sensory path of that cortex. The brain understands its environment through perception of sensory inputs. These perceptions influence learning ability and this is not simply learning which someone has directed you to learn, it is learning from experience, perception, observation and social interaction.

The ability to learn is a continuous process. Someone whose learning ability is impaired can be exhibited by physical stunting; i.e. the individual may be short throughout life and yet continues his life normally. But you can’t expect this person to be a basketball player. Hence there is a limit to what an individual can learn.

So those people who have been deprived of these learning opportunities during their early years how would they cope up later in life? Also, apart from learning how else are children affected if they are not fully developed?

There are some people who grow up in the most dreadful circumstances and they do well. You are looking at a phenomenon of resilience and that leads you to the domain of gene expression. Under certain conditions susceptible genes will not be expressed and the necessary development will not take place. On the other hand if one is equipped with genes that are capable of full expression then those individuals are resilient, they manage to survive despite the environment. There is no way of knowing whether a child is equipped with a full or partial genetic force that is susceptible to environmental conditions.

The other element apart from learning ability that is also affected by conditions in the early stages of life is behavior. Social environment influences behavior, for e.g. violent behavior at the age of 2 associated with violent behavior at the age of 14 and later on in life; and many other antisocial traits that you find in youth have their origins at home. The pattern of behavior is set within the child during his/her childhood which affects his behavior later on in life.

The third element that is affected very early in life is health. This also includes the mental health of a person; the ability to cope with ones circumstances and with stress. There is a limit to handling stress after which an individual becomes ineffective in doing so. The effect of care during the early years is extremely beneficial for a child’s mental health later on in life as well.

What needs to be emphasized is that during the early years brain development takes place which lays the foundations of an individual’s development. This foundation is formed as a result of stimulation. The lack of stimulation can cause the foundation not to be formed properly. From then on the next stages can’t materialize. That stage setting takes place very early in life.