The union government has asked schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to commence pre primaries to align with the National Education Policy 2020 requisites.
This was communicated to principals of CBSE schools at a meeting held in Delhi that discussed various aspects including implementation of NEP, assessment, and evaluation patterns. Principals participated in the meeting online and offline.
Currently, in the country, out of 28,000 schools, a mere 3,300 have pre primary sections according to official data. The other schools start from class 1. However, during the meeting, it was specified that schools would be “encouraged” to start classes.
The NEP 2020 proposes a 5+3+3+4 education pattern where the first few years focus on foundational learning. The foundational stage includes three years of preschool education.
L S Changsan, additional secretary (in charge of school education and literacy), ministry of education said that schools have been asked to commence foundation classes from the age of three.
She said that only 11 % CBSE schools in India currently had pre-school classes and that preschools are largely stand alone and unregulated.
“There is a huge difference in the cognitive and socioemotional development of children when we start early. We would highly encourage this among the 20,800 schools that are currently starting from grade 1,” she said.
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