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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Ministries tussle to teach tiny tots by Basant Kumar Mohanty

Ministries tussle to teach tiny tots by Basant Kumar Mohanty

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published Published on Jan 25, 2012   modified Modified on Jan 25, 2012

Two central ministries have locked horns over the country’s youngest students, the tug-of-war for the tiny tots unfolding after a plan to bring pre-school education under the Right to Education Act.

While the human resource development ministry wants to include pre-primary education under the act, which provides for free and compulsory education to children between six and 14, the women and child development department says education and childcare shouldn’t be segregated for kids below six.

Under the existing set-up, children between four and six — nearly four crore kids fall in this age bracket — receive informal schooling at anganwadi (care) centres funded by the Integrated Child Development Scheme. The ICDS scheme covers nutritional support to facilitate cognitive growth.

The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), headed by HRD minister Kapil Sibal, has set up a committee under junior minister D. Purandeswari to explore if pre-school education can be brought under the RTE Act, an idea the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council also backs.

But the child development ministry has told the CABE committee that pre-primary schooling has to be conducted in an integrated manner.

“It would be difficult to segregate education from childcare and nutrition in early childhood stage. That is why the child development ministry says that if the HRD ministry wants, it should cover all the components of early childhood care instead of taking care of education alone,” an official said.

The government has already moved to restructure the ICDS scheme and an inter-ministerial task force has been set up under Planning Commission member Sayeeda Hameed to suggest ways.

Some officials said bringing pre-primary education under the RTE Act would need huge investments, apart from professionals trained in childcare. They also pointed out that the 13 lakh elementary government and aided schools in the country lacked adequate infrastructure.

The child development ministry has written to the ICDS restructuring committee expressing these concerns.

The HRD ministry, too, has written to the committee, but supporting the idea of including pre-primary schooling under the RTE Act.

“The HRD ministry is supportive of the idea of including pre-primary schooling under the RTE Act. That is why the CABE committee under Purandeswari is looking into it. The ministry has also given the same view to the committee under Hameed,” an HRD ministry official said.

Both the committees are in the process of consultations and have not yet made any final recommendations. “We have received views of different ministries. The Planning Commission will give some kind of formulation which will be in the best interest of children,” Hameed said.

Some academics opposed the idea of including pre-primary education under the RTE Act. “A four or five-year-old should not be put in a school and asked to study,” said Shyma Chona, former principal of DPS, RK Puram.

“The child may be given informal teaching in a relaxed atmosphere and under proper care. The schools are not equipped to do this job.”


The Telegraph, 25 January, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120125/jsp/nation/story_15051115.jsp


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