For the very first time, the Tamil Nadu government has come out with a draft code of regulations for playschools across the state and a draft syllabus for children between the ages of one and a half to three and a half years. While playschools and parents have welcomed the new regulation, they feel some of the rules are not realistic.
One of the affected kids is Aarav, who is set to start playschool in Chennai next month. But the Tamil Nadu government's new draft code of regulations has his mother worried. As per the new rules, schools shall admit children residing within a one kilometre radius and Aarav's playschool is not near his home.
"Not all areas in Madras have great playschools. I wouldn't want to miss out on the education because of the distance," says Aarav's mother Aashritha Devi Talluri.
Until now playschools in Tamil Nadu have been functioning outside the purview of the state government. The education department has defined a play school as a place of informal education for children between 18 months to three and a half years of age. However, educationists are concerned.
Gajendra Babu, general secretary of State Platform for Common School System, says, "The concept of play school hasn't been defined properly. If you take a child between 0 to 18 there are various stages. 0-3 is early childhood care. Early childhood care can take place in a daycare centre, crèche or play school."
The state government has also proposed an activities-based syllabus for holistic development for toddlers and pre-schoolers.
The 35-page draft syllabus prepared by the state government has also laid emphasis on good personal habits, focusing on personal hygiene and proper toilet habits. But playschools say a 15-minute toilet time listed in the daily schedule is simply not realistic.
According to Kavita Saraf, the founder-director of Alphabet Playschool, "First of all toilet should be regulated in the morning. That's a body clock we have to set for the child. And if each training takes 15 minutes to half an hour, then what are we supposed to do?"
While the code of regulations and the syllabus remain on paper for now, playschools and parents say the education department needs to engage more with all stakeholders before rules and guidelines are enforced.
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