dna edit: Do not play it by the book

It’s easy to preach, difficult to practice, and quite a task to accept criticism over the gulf between words and actions. The set of norms proposed by the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry for playschools may be prompted by genuine concern for toddlers, but the high-handed manner in which the government is trying to enforce such change is in itself a source of concern.

To be fair to the government, most private players in education have turned it into a money-minting exercise, caring more for profits and less about quality. Yet these players manage to do good business because government schools at all levels inspire little confidence among parents and students. And that’s primarily because of poor infrastructure and general apathy towards education. Faced with no options, middle-class families stretch their monthly budgets thin and enrol children in private institutions.

Most playschools run by established brands lack the conditions the WCD ministry now wants to make mandatory. There’s no denying that these norms are essential to a child’s physical and intellectual growth: one classroom measuring at least 35 sqm for 30 kids, a minimum outdoor space of 30 sqm, separate space for cooking nutritionally balanced meals, naptimes for children and a healthy caregiver and student ratio. In all the metros and major cities, most such schools do not have even half that space. Forget nutritionally balanced food, parents are asked to provide tiffin for children during the school hours. There have even been allegations of kids being drugged not to make them ‘a cause of headache’ for the staff.

Having said that, it is also important to underscore that the government may have been a little overzealous in its top-down approach, especially with its provision for mandatory use of mother tongue or vernacular language as the medium of instruction. Such a method has little to show in terms of benefitting students. Pedagogy and child psychology are the domains of experts. Instead of pushing changes through fiats, the WCD ministry should  ask a panel of experts to look into the various drawbacks of playschools.

These recommendations can then form the basis for future guidelines. Since education is both a state and central subject, such committees funded by the Union can be formed at the local levels in consultation with the state administration to monitor the performance of these schools. A graded form of punishment beginning with fines, warnings and culminating in revoking the licence of defaulting institutions can be an effective approach.

A fiat or diktat from above will achieve little — look at the way rich, private schools have circumvented an important clause in the Right to Education and kept poor children out of  their classrooms.

For the government, the job of regulating playschools should also mean getting its own educational institutions in shape. It has to recruit more teachers, ensure basic facilities like drinking water and playgrounds and healthy midday meals.

More importantly, it has to dispel the present perception that government schools impart inferior education to disadvantaged children. What we have seen so far is hardly encouraging. Continued government indifference has spurred semi-qualified — even illegal schools — to run a brisk business at the cost of the children’s future.

Alongside the mushrooming playschools, the government too now needs to get its act together.