COIMBATORE: Parents and educationists have urged the Tamil Nadu government to increase the number of the kindergarten sections in government schools in the upcoming academic year.
The opportunity for pre-education is denied to children at government schools owing to the inadequate number of Lower Kindergarten (LKG) and Upper Kindergarten (UKG) sections in several parts of the state, said a parent.
Parent, C Selvarani of Pudhupalayam in Thondamuthur block in the district told TNIE, “I have been sending my daughter to the nearby anganwadi for the last one-and-a-half years. As she is nearing four years I was planning to admit her to the kindergarten section. But when I looked for kindergarten admission in and around Thondamuhur, I came to know that it is functioning on the campus of 12 primary and middle schools located at Vadavalli and Perur areas. Those areas are about 10 kilometers from Thondamuthur.”
Even if private kindergarten schools are nearby, many poor parents would find it difficult to admit their wards by paying high fees. “We have been forced to send my daughter to the anganwadi till she joins class 1 at the age of 6,” Selvarani said, while also adding, “Daily wage labourers can’t admit their children to private schools.”
Education rights activist Su Moorthy told TNIE that Section 11 of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, mandates that the government should provide free preschool education to all children between the ages of three and six years. He pointed out that parents have to approach private kindergartens that charge high fees as government schools don’t have enough such preschool classes.
“In private schools, children are admitted to Class 1 only after completing pre-school education. However, most of the children enrolled in government schools do not receive preschool education. This creates a learning and cognitive gap between poor children and well-off children right from the start of schooling. The quality of primary education is also affected,” he said.