Rewari ‘Balvatikas’ with strength up to 20 to get notices

Ravinder Saini

Rewari, June 24

The district elementary education authorities have directed Block Education Officers (BEOs) to issue show-cause notices to 76 ‘Balvatikas’ in Rewari (pre-primary schools) where the strength of students is 20 or less.

Want to get in more students

We do not want action against any Balvatika. We simply want to raise the strength of students by putting in more efforts. — Kapil Punia, Dist elementary education officer

As many as 784 Balvatikas-III at government schools across the state have low strength. Yamunanagar tops the tally with 111 such Balvatikas followed by Kurukshetra (91) and Mahendragarh (75).

The action came after the Department of School Education intimated the district authorities about such ‘Balvatikas’ and asked them to raise enrolment.

“Balvatika” is a bridge class before a child’s transition to Class I at the age of five. It has been opened in government schools under the New Education Policy (NEP) to improve foundational education of children.

The objective of this learning space is to ensure holistic development of children, aged three to five, including socio-emotional, communication, linguistic and analytical skills.

“There are 8,400 government primary schools across the state in which these Balvatikas are being run. Teachers of primary schools contact anganwadi centres and nearby localities to motivate parents to enroll their wards,” said an official at the Department of School Education.

Kapil Punia, District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO), said the BEOs had been asked to find out the reasons behind the poor strength of students.

The reply to the notices are expected by next week. “We do not want action against any Balvatika. Our aim is to simply raise the strength of students by putting in more efforts,” he stated.