Mumbai: Parents in Maharashtra may soon have access to information about all pre-primary schools in their vicinity on one official platform. The information will not only include details on their website addresses, the students enrolled, and when they were started, but also on the physical infrastructure available, including the number of toilets, and the teachers and attendants available at the pre-schools. In a first such initiative to have consolidated data on pre-schools under one platform, the state govt launched a portal for their registration.
With the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the central govt has brought children in the 3-6 age group under its ambit. The state is now making an attempt to implement the policy in a phased manner. Though the women and child development department has details on anganwadis, there is little or no control over private institutions offering pre-primary education. So, the state has launched this portal to bring all private centres providing pre-primary education under one platform, said school education minister Dadaji Bhuse. The portal was launched by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday.
The information sought from the pre-schools in the registration forms available online also includes data on whether the school enrols children with special needs, whether they have CCTV surveillance, or if they have playgrounds or even water tanks. In the section made available for teachers, schools have to fill in details about their qualification. The data will also help the govtframe a policy for pre-primary education soon.
Principal secretary, School Education, Ranjit Singh Deol, said that registration on the portal will not be mandatory as of now. “Currently, the state does not have information on all such private centres providing pre-primary education. Once the policy is framed and implemented, registration will become mandatory for all,” said Deol.