Govt planning guidelines to regulate pre-schools : Maneka

Government is planning to come out with a set of guidelines to regulate pre-schools that are part of Anganwadi centres as also those run by private agencies in the wake of complaints about violation of child rights.
This was informed by Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi today.
Gandhi said that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended regulatory guidelines which will decide on various issues such as teacher-student ratio, curriculum, infrastructure and the age of admission apart from the safety and security aspects.
NCPCR member Priyank Kanoongo said that the guidelines have been developed to regulate the private play schools for children in the age group of 3-6 years to bring inclusiveness and uniformity in all private educational institutions imparting pre-school education and prevent violation of child rights.

The crucial role of quality pre-school education was recognised through 86th Constitutional Amendment, which introduced Article 45 that states, "The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years".
Consequently, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 recommended that - "With a view to prepare children above the age of three years for elementary education and to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years, the appropriate Government shall make necessary arrangement for providing free pre-school education for such children. "

Presently, this provision is being implemented and fulfilled by MWCD through the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)ensuring the right of children to pre-school education.