Govt offers deprived children a taste of pre-primary learning

A few months ago,Karan enrolled in the model pre-primary section run by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Prasad Nagar,and is among the hundreds of children from financially and educationally backward sections who would have otherwise ended up staying home.

A year ago,the SSA,a flagship programme of the central government,started these model centres at 300 schools run by the government and civic agencies across the city to boost enrolment and to check dropout rates. Many children,as a survey undertaken by government officials two years ago found,quit school to take care of their younger siblings.

Delhi was the first to introduce these models running in existing schools and funded by the SSA,officials said,even encompassing mobile schools that target migrant and out-of-school children.

While under the Early Child Care and Education (ECCE) scheme of the government,pre-school classes are being run in the aaganwadi centres under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme,the SSA and the Department of Education officials saw the need for setting up model centres in existing schools to supplement the government’s efforts.

Three years ago,a Delhi government order decreed that one section of nursery class be introduced in all 365 Sarvodaya Vidyalayas across the city from the 2009-10 session. It was also decided that pre-primary classes would be introduced in all government schools in NCR within three years of the order.

Acting on the lead,SSA set up nursery sections for children aged four plus in 300 schools,which included 96 government schools,198 MCD-run schools,five schools under the New Delhi Municipal Council,and one under the Delhi Cantonment Board.

“Not all can afford to send their children to nursery schools. We wanted to work on a model so that middle class parents too can target government schools,” VP Singh,SSA state project director,said. “Last year,we took some children in. This year,enrolment has increased a lot.”

According to Singh,the success of the ECCE centres has also contributed towards the increase in enrollment in government schools.

Far from the mad rush at the city’s public schools,eager parents waited outside an MCD school in Moti Nagar,waiting for the school to finish.

Inside ,four-year-old girl Sulochan held fast to a stuffed doll. Daughter of a daily wage labourer,her elder sister dropped out of school to take care of her. But when SSA staff made rounds of the slums as part of the promotional campaign telling parents about the pre-primary class at the local school,parents flocked to the school.

Savitri Khera,SSA official and district coordinator,said the project is a great step towards universalisation of elementary education. “We want the model to be replicated,” she said.