Recently, the Directorate of Elementary Education released draft rules for regulation of play schools. While the rules deal with various procedures including approval, curriculum and even admissions, it does not take Montessori schools into account, even though they have been asked to apply for recognition under the play school category.
“We have submitted all our forms and are waiting for recognition as a play school, but now they have formed draft regulations without considering our schools at all.
These regulations say play schools are to impart informal education for children in the age group of one-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years of age, which itself becomes a problem, since many Montessori schools admit students till the age of 12,” the principal of one of the Montessori schools in Nungambakkam said.
The draft regulations also outline the working hours for these schools, saying they should not exceed three hours and should be between 9.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m.
“For our older children, we have longer school hours, but there is no provision for children over the age of four. Many of us only take children over the age of five,” she added.
“Unless the department of school education includes a provision for Montessori schools, or at least outlines a different set of rules for these schools, we are wasting our time applying for play school approval,” another school principal added.
Speaking on the issue, a senior education official said they were currently looking at the issue of Montessori schools, but since there were not too many schools, it would not be a problem.
Draft rules
“These are just the draft rules, and the final rules will take all these issues into consideration before they are published,” he said.
A copy of the draft rules is available at http://www.tn.gov.in/
schooleducation/ draft_regulations/
draftcode_regulations_
playschool_090615.pdf.
The conditions of functioning of Montessori schools, which have to apply for recognition as play schools, have not been considered
