The Preschool Scenario - Scanned !

Any company or individual working in the area of preschool education is sure to have encountered these statistics. Clearly the preschool education market is booming and promises rapid growth and quick returns for investment.  After all currently only 1 out of 100 children in the age group are enrolled in preschools. Due to increase in income and awareness as well as challenges of nuclear family, parents in tier II and Tier III cities are increasingly enrolling their children in preschools.

This is indeed a welcome trend as research conducted in different countries as well as in India clearly establishes that pre primary education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and development. A 1996 study conducted under DEEP, NCERT states children with preschool experience showed higher numeracy and reading readiness scores in class 1.

Given that preschool education is essential for supporting children’s learning and development the trend of more and more entrepreneurs are venturing into this domain is a cause for celebration.

Or is it? While the number of preschools is increasing low entry barriers and low regulation means that anybody can walk into the domain.  Individuals with some capital to invest or with some space to spare can open a preschool. Mostly they have no understanding of how children develop and learn. For them a good preschool is described by its building and facilities only. So we have preschools that look like castles out of fairy tales, have glitzy interiors with granite flooring, walls with murals from Disney tales and AV rooms to recreate the movie theatre experience with recliners and soft drink glass holders in the arm rest.  However as any child development expert will tell you that swanky décor and luxurious facilities do not imply learning. It is the quality of the teachers and the curriculum that determines how well children learn and develop.

Unfortunately most promoters while willing to invest in the latest state-of art infrastructure seem clearly reluctant to spend of teachers’ salaries, their training or on curriculum.

Lack of good teachers is another challenge that the domain faces. It is strange that in our country anybody can walk into a preschool and become a teacher. But teachers in preschool need complex skills. They need to be a parent, a teacher and a manager all rolled in one. Think of a class where 10 children are completing a worksheet, two have already completed it and one child has still not begun because he is missing his mother.  This is a kind of situation that teachers encounter several times in a day. To assume that any graduate will be able to handle such situations without any kind of training is indeed a tall order. By accepting this premise we are compromising on children’s learning.

Additionally at the policy level there are no clearly defined standards or outcomes to measure the quality of learning provided in the preschools across the country. This has resulted in a chaotic situation where many preschools seem believe that more is better. So we have come across preschools where 5 year olds are made to memorise tables of 2 and 3.

In view of these challenges the draft National Early Childhood Care and Education Policy (NECCE) is a welcome initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. If implemented well this policy should act as an institutional mechanism to define and ensure quality of preschool education.

We would then rightly celebrate the boom in the sector as it would quality education for our children within the parameters of business success.