Hyderabad: Pre-schools not a matter of play

Hyderabad: For the first time, playschools, or pre-schools, will need to apply for recognition from the school education department. Institutions running nursery and kindergarten sections have been directed to apply for recognition by the end of March.

The government took the step following the death of a three-year-old girl in a playschool elevator at Dilsukhnagar in November last year.

Guidelines yet to be formed on playschools
The education department has not formulated guidelines for pre-primary sections after asking all school managements to obtain permission to run playschools.

According to a department official, the notices were based on GO Ms No.1 of 1994. There was no mechanism in place for playschools as the trend caught up in the last decade, the official said.

School managements say that the earlier GO dealt only with the requirements of primary and high schools. “Primary schools were told to appoint teachers with diploma in education, while a bachelor’s degree in education was made mandatory for high school teachers. There is no clarity on the qualifications for recruiting teachers in playschools once permission is given,” Srikanth Reddy of Bachpan schools said.

It requires patience and skills to deal with tiny tots as young as two years. School  managements have given a representation to the school education commissioner recently about the need to formulate guidelines keeping in mind the requirements of playschools, he added.

Instructed by the school education director, mandal education officers in the twin cities called meetings with school managements in their jurisdiction and served notices asking them to seek recognition.