Education Dept oblivious of new norms

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 21

Three months have passed since the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued new guidelines for recognition, cap on child’s age and police verification of employees in private play schools, but the school Education Department at the district level seems to be oblivious of them.

To regulate private play schools, running under varied names such as play groups, play schools, pre-schools and nursery schools that teach children in the three to six years age bracket, the NCPCR released guidelines on December 21, 2016.

Among a host of regulatory norms, these guidelines had mandated that any employee in such play schools must have police verification and that only children above three-year-old will be allowed admission.

The Department of Social Security, Women and Children Development, Punjab, had written to the Director General of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) on January 12 to implement these guidelines.

On February 2, the Director General of the School Education Department had issued instructions to all district education officers (DEOs) to enforce these rules.

More than 50 days have passed but the Education Department authorities at district level are have not done anything of the sort.

Khushbir Singh, DEO (Secondary), said DEO (Elementary) might know about these guidelines.

Jaspreet Singh, DEO (Elementary) was not available for comment despite repeated attempts to contact him over phone.

To bring inclusiveness and uniformity in all private educational institutions imparting pre-school education and prevent violation of child rights against children in the age group three to six, it was asked that henceforth, every such school has to get recognition from the Social Security and Women and Children Development Department.

But the Social Security Department is yet to get the details of these guidelines.

As per the guidelines, no child below the age of three years should be admitted to a play school and the fees charged by the play school must be regulated by the government and collected only on monthly or quarterly basis. There should not be collection of any capitation fee.

There would be one teacher and one caregiver for every 20 children and adequate staff to maintain hygiene, sanitation and ensure safety and security of children in the play school.

There would be a separate rest room for children, separate child-friendly and disabled-friendly toilets for boys and girls, soap, clean cloth/towel, garbage bin, wash basin/sink at low level and CCTV surveillance (ensure security of data) in these schools, the guidelines say.

Each play school must constitute a parents teachers association (PTA) that should include 75 per cent parents (at least 50 per cent mothers) and 25 per cent Teachers.

No child should be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment. No child should be held back in the play school after completion of six years of age on any pretext.

No play school shall be closed without due recognition from the competent authority to be sought by the management by duly applying and until the children are shifted to another school.

This early childhood education (ECE) is provided also in government run anganwadis to the children in three to six years of age but the private channel is largely unregulated.

The aim of the guidelines framed and recommended by the NCPCR is to remove ambiguity in such private educational institutions in India and achieve national as well as international commitment of pre-school education, said Prinyank Kanoongo, member of the NCPCR.