In a first, pre-primary children to come under formal school system

Mumbai: For the first time, starting next academic year, pre-primary school children in Maharashtra will be brought within the ambit of the formal education system. The state government is currently in the process of merging around 55,000 government anganwadi (pre-primary) centres with the nearest school.

The remaining 45,000 anganwadis will merge in a step-by-step manner, said Kailash Pagare, state project director, Samagra Shiksha, Maharashtra.

“When students from anganwadis come to school in the first grade, they often have a bit of fear and take the first two or three months to settle and adjust to their surroundings. With the merging of anganwadis, these children will become accustomed to attending the same school and will not notice any differences or experience a new environment,” he added.

Linking pre-primary education with primary education is part of the National Education Policy 2020.

At present, about 1,00,000 anganwadis provide pre-primary education in the state. Of the 55,000 that will be merged in the first phase, 40,000 currently run on the premises of primary schools. The remaining 15,000 have been identified and will be moved to the nearest primary school. The departments of Women and Child Development and School Education have collaborated to realise this exercise.

“The curriculum will be imparted by the school education department in these anganwadis from the next academic year,” said Pagare. “Trained teachers will be appointed to educate children in these anganwadis.”

The State Council for Educational Research & Training (SCERT) is currently preparing the syllabus, and existing anganwadi teachers can also opt for the training. Discussions are on regarding the exact amount of salaries to anganwadi Tai and helpers and which department will pay the remuneration.

Anganwadi workers, however, are against this policy of the government.

“It will protect and merge anganwadis located 500 metres away from the school. But no one talks about anganwadis that are located in far-off villages. We are against such a selective stance,” said Shubha Shamim, anganwadi activist.