With schools set to reopen after the summer vacation, the lack of a foolproof mechanism to govern pre-primary schools and its functioning is in focus yet again.
Many schools have sprouted in recent times and there is no system to ensure academic efficacy or the physical safety of students there.
R.V.G. Menon, academic, said it was one of the areas where the government had failed to intervene and keep a tab on the methodology being followed. The absence of government intervention could be detrimental to society as a whole, he said.
In developed countries, where formal education started only after the age of six, there was a strict curriculum in place at the preschool level. It concentrated more on group behaviour, development of early communication skills, and mental faculty. Some of the preschools here imparted lessons in writing and trained children to memorise texts, Prof. Menon said.
“When a child who has some basic knowledge joins a primary school the teachers fix that child as a benchmark to assess other children. In the same class, there could be children who are, maybe, less proficient. So, it sets an unhealthy practice,” he said.
This apart is the safety aspect. Many of these institutions function in rented, old buildings in inaccessible areas. Officials in the Education Departments had been noncommittal on the structural safety of the buildings. “We do not keep tabs on these institutions. The government is planning to institutionalise the pre-primary sector and make licensing mandatory,” an official said.
P. Chandrasekharan, Commandant, Fire and Rescue Services, said the Education Department should make licensing mandatory and ensure that these institutions had proper fire-fighting measures in place. “The priority should be to ensure that the buildings are safe and accessible. It is true that several of these institutions have come up in inaccessible areas, which is a cause of concern,” Mr. Chandrasekharan said.
