At times some parents find it impossible to continue paying hefty fees and end up pulling their kids out of the pre-primary section, said Shivnath Darade.
Scores of parents from economically disadvantaged sections of the society are coughing up a lot of money for their children's schooling in the pre-primary division as civic-run schools don't provide such an option, says corporator Shivnath Darade.
Raising concerns over the issue, which is also seeing a decline in the number of students taking admission in civic schools, the member of BMC's education committee has a proposed a discussion on it.
In a letter to Ritu Tawde, chairman of the committee, Darade has cited the plight of poor parents and how BMC is not paying attention towards children between four and six. The matter is likely to be discussed this week.
Darade said if the BMC can't start pre-primary sections in its schools, it should consider compensating private schools so that they can admit children from poor families, something similar to what the state does for admissions under the Right to Education Act.
"The civic administration complains that they don't have enough students in its Marathi medium schools, or for that matter, in any regional language schools. They lose students to private English medium schools as most parents want their kids to attend school at 4," said Darade.
Explaining the predicament of parents, he said that by the time a student is eligible to enter a BMC-run school (at 6), s/he has already studied in a private school from nursery to senior KG. "This makes it difficult for parents to shift their kids from a private school to a municipal school."
Darade said pre-schools often flout government norms and charge a lot of money under the guise of deposits and donations.
At times some parents find it impossible to continue paying hefty fees and end up pulling their kids out of the pre-primary section, said Darade. "The children are then made to work and earn money. This only encourages child labour and in some worst cases crimes. When the BMC is already undertaking the responsibility of providing education, why can't it start pre-primary sections?"
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