Mita Mukherjee

With preschool education becoming compulsory for all children under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, an all-India organisation of private schools has undertaken a project to start 25,000 preschools across the country for children between three to six years to align with the NEP recommendation.

The organisation will not only set up new independent preschools, but it will also provide necessary help to existing schools which do not have preschool sections to develop new units for three to six year old kids,  Shamael Ahmed, national president of Private Schools and Children Welfare Association (PSCWA) said.

 “ In the new structure proposed in NEP, preschool for three to six year old kids has become an integral part of school education. Under the existing 10+ 2 system, formal schooling starts at the age of six years. In the new system recommended in the NEP preschool education has been included in the formal school system. For proper implementation of the policy, our organisation has taken an initiative to help individuals and groups to set up new schools for three to six year old children and offer assistance to existing schools for adding preschool units to their institutions,” Ahmed told EducationWorld.

The new system in which children between three to six years are to be covered under formal education is slated to come into effect in full swing from the 2024 session.

Ahmed said according to the NEP recommendation every preschool should provide certain essential facilities so that the children are able to learn and grow in a conducive environment. The association will ensure the proposed 25,000 preschools are set up complying with the NEP recommendation and equipped with all child-friendly and child-safety facilities.

While the association will oversee the infrastructure facilities, Nalanda Learning, which runs a chain of preschools in Bengal and in some other states will help the new schools develop the right content and curriculum as per the guidelines suggested in the NEP.

Tamal Mukherjee founder director of Nalanda Learning said that with the introduction of the NEP it is ensured that preschool education is a crucial part of education for child’s development and it is provided in uniformity to all children.

The National Curriculum Framework – Foundational Stage released at the end of last year, has announced the guidelines for running the preschools and it has made it clear that uniformity in curriculum is maintained at the preschool level across the country, Mukherjee said.

According to Mukherjee, Nalanda Learning has been delivering a NEP-2020 compliant curriculum with digital content to over 200 schools for several  years and his organization has trained 10,000 teachers to offer the right kind of teaching as recommended in the NEP.

“ Nalanda Learning, having its headquarter in Noida, NCR has been working in the field of early childhood care and education for the last 12 years. The guidelines given in the National Curriculum Framework for early childhood care and education match in many ways with the curriculum we had been following in our schools for a long time. We are happy that the PSCWA has chosen us as their academic partner for developing the NCF compliant curriculum for the 25,000 new preschools. Nalanda Learning is fully equipped to take this initiative,” Mukherjee told EducationWorld.      

In the absence of proper guidelines and prescribed syllabus, every preschool follows their own curriculum, at present.

Most schools in the rural and small town areas would only teach alphabets and rhymes. Whereas those in urban areas might have proper facilities but they would teach which are not required for three to six year old kids.

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