Visakhapatnam: As part of the New Education Policy-2020 (NEP) guidelines, two Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) in Telugu states have been selected to conduct Balvatika classes (pre-school) for children between the ages of three and six years on a pilot basis.
The schools are KV NAD in Visakhapatnam for Andhra Pradesh and KV-2 Golconda in Hyderabad for Telangana.
Even after the bifurcation of the united AP, the KV education system was indivisible. KV NAD School principal Adiseshu Sharma said while there were 72 KVs in the two Telugu states, only two have been considered for running the Balvatika nursery classes.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Sharma said Balvatika is a newly developed system to have a new educational curriculum as per the guidelines and framework under NEP-2020.
“We have opened both offline and online applications to conduct Balvatika. Around 308 offline applications have been sold so far. The last date for submission of application is October 10. We are also new to this system and our heads in New Delhi are updating us every step,” added Sharma.
Elaborating on Balvatika, Sharma said children who are three to four years old by March 31, 2022 are eligible for Balvatika-I, children between 4 to 5 years are eligible for Balvatika-II and children between five and six years are eligible for Balvatika-III.
NEP-2020 central core committee member of NEP-2020 and national curriculum framework Prof. TV Kattimani, who is also the vice-chancellor of Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh (CTUAP), said this is a great opportunity for schools, which were chosen for Balvatika.
"I appreciate the schools that have got this. Balvatika is a model school for other institutions. It is essential in primary education. It prepares children to do wonders in the future," Prof. Kattimani told DC.
On the other hand, AP state Right to Education Forum member Naravaprakasa Rao said the AP government is successfully following the NEP-2020 guidelines in its education system. “I didn't know about the Balvatika till now. Now let's study it," Rao added.
