Haryana considering introduction of nursery classes in state-run schools

GURGAON: In a significant development, Haryana's education department is considering introduction of nursery classes in government schools. Currently, the government schools start from class I, while children up to six years of age are taken care of by anganwadi centers.

The suggestion came up in a meeting between the primary teachers association and additional chief secretary (education) PK Das, held last Tuesday. The association will also raise the issue with the chief minister in its next meeting in January.

According to primary teachers, the initial years of a child are important and due to non-availability of nursery facility in government schools, a lot of parents are forced to opt for private schools. "We feel that due to the absence of nursery classes in government schools, we are losing out on students as parents are increasingly admitting their wards in private schools," said Tarun Suhag, president of primary teachers' association.

He added: "Das has assured us that his department will work on our proposal. We will also raise the matter with the chief minister in our meeting with him in the first week of January."

When contacted, Das told TOI that the government is indeed mulling over such a proposal, but said the introduction of nursery classes in state-run schools requires changes at the policy level and involve other departments such as the woman and child welfare department. "Children under the age of six years are taken care of by the anganwadi centres, which also undertake a lot of things, such as immunisation, besides education," he said.

However, beyond losing students to private schools, the absence of nursery classes also has some other major implications. For instance, the state education department does not have a framework for nursery admissions. "The introduction of nursery classes will bound the government to have a regulatory framework that will also put the private schools under scrutiny," said Sumit Vohra, the founder of AdmissionNursery.com.

Toi Gurgaon-No regulator, admission chaos irks parents

Shakir Mir | TNN | Jan 6, 2017, 02.12 AM IST

Gurgaon: Nursery admissions in most private schools in Gurgaon started last August but in some schools, they are still on. Parents say this happens because there is no regulatory body to control school admissions in the city, unlike in Delhi. Besides, schools follow different policies for the refund of booking amount and many schools don't provide a break-up of the fee.

"It's a big problem in Gurgaon," said Sakshi Chopra, a parent. "Schools do not have a uniform calendar of admissions and then there is the problem of refunding the fees. Once you block a seat in a school, there is no getting out of it. The refund policy varies from school to school. Some will not refund if the period of 30 days exceeds. Some schools have a policy of 30% refund within the 15-day period and so on," she said.

"In the absence of a regulatory body, it's the parents who suffer. For the sake of better education of wards, we eventually get ready to pay through our nose," she added.

The admission fee charged by CBSE schools in Gurgaon is much higher than what is charged by Delhi schools. Most CBSE schools in Delhi, for instance, charge anything between Rs 1.1 and Rs 1.8 lakh per annum.

Sumit Vohra, founder of AdmissionNursery.com, said the nursery admission process in Gurgaon schools spans as long as five months, which is unlike in Delhi where it happens at a particular time under directions from the directorate of school education. "Different schools have different admission dates in the city. It creates a lot of problems for the parents who want to weigh the options to select the best one for them," he said.

Gurgaon school principals, however, said they have a common body that takes care of all these issues. "We have Gurgaon Preparatory Schools Organisation. We all sit down together. A consensus is reached before we decide on the admission process and other related criteria. There has never been any inconvenience felt on the part of parents," said Aarti Chopra