Page 70 - EW November 2024

ANNIVERSARY ESSAY

Liberty, equality & fraternity must

begin in common preschools

SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI

RECENTLY VISITED MY HOMETOWN ATHANI in Only a fraction of the 180 million in the
north Karnataka. It is no longer the quiet and poor ta-
luka town it was when I did my schooling there more age group of 0-5 years have access
I than five decades ago. The roads are teeming with cars. to good quality, well-equipped pre-
The rich have built ornate homes. There are stores galore
selling branded clothes, shoes and jewellery. This new face schools. If this divide continues how
of the town seems to indicate India is well on its way to can India remain faithful to the ideals of
becoming the world’s third largest economy.
I also visited a balwadi in one of Athani’s narrow by- liberty, equality and fraternity?
lanes, where underprivileged families send their kids for
pre-school learning. Suddenly, a contrasting reality pre- terparts, begin to believe that privilege is their entitlement.
sented itself. Two tiny rooms without any ventilation. Bare They exhibit strong aversion to the value of egalitarianism.
walls with nothing on them to stimulate children’s imagina- India has about 180 million children in the age group
tion. No space for them to play, or even to move about free- of 0-5 years — that is, 13 percent of the total population.
ly. These are mostly children of daily wage workers, house- Only a small fraction of them have access to good quality,
maids and security guards serving in the glittering shops well-equipped pre-schools. If this divide continues, how
of the market. Their parents cannot afford the better-run can India remain faithful to the ideals of Justice, Liberty,
play-schools where doctors, lawyers, rich merchants, gov- Equality, Fraternity, and Dignity of the Individual which
ernment officers and local politicians send their children. are enshrined in the Preamble of our Constitution? How
Athani is not an exception. You will see the two socially can even the unity and integrity of the nation, another pre-
polarising types of pre-schools in most of India’s 6,562 ta- ambular principle, be guaranteed?
luka towns, and slums of large cities. The country’s 1.6 mil- gainst this backdrop here are five suggestions to pro-
lion Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) established by the Central Avide quality ECCE for all, especially those lagging be-
government mostly in rural areas, are no better either. These hind. First, the Central and state governments must show
AWCs are essentially nutrition centres for pregnant and lac- requisite political will, that must translate into sufficient
tating mothers and children below six years to whom they financial support to augment every community’s own re-
also provide rudimentary pre-primary education. But who sources to upgrade the infrastructure of every single bal-
goes there? You will rarely see the rural rich sending their wadi/AWC in the country. Second, to become a more har-
children to sit next to kids of their servants in an anganwadi. monious society, we must summon commitment to class,
Besides constraints of space and insufficient materials caste, religious and gender equality. Specifically, we should
for playful learning, balwadis are also under-staffed. Their encourage common pre-schools for all. We should also
teachers are grossly under-paid. They have no formal train- find more innovative ways to minimise social segregation
ing to prepare children under their care, typically between among children.
the ages of 3-5, to enter the portals of formal schooling. The Third, adequate space must be reserved for pre-schools
problem of ill-trained teachers continues in government- (also for schools) in town and city planning blueprints.
run primary and secondary schools. It is even more marked Fourth, parental education must be made an integral part of
in expensive private ‘English-medium schools’ that have ECCE, since parents are the first and most important teach-
sprung up in large numbers in villages, taluka towns and ers of children. Fifth, the quality of ECCE is only as good
urban slums in every state of India. No wonder, the Annual as the quality of teachers. Therefore, continuous teacher
Status of Education Report (ASER) shows, year after year, training and re-training to enhance their knowledge, peda-
why an alarmingly large number of children from these gogical skills and self-motivation should be given highest
schools have poor learning outcomes in basic math, read- priority. We now have powerful digital media to realise this
ing and writing. Clearly, cognitive deficiency among under- purpose. Gradually, we should elevate the importance of
privileged children is a pedagogical and political rather than ECCE to such a high level that a pre-school teacher has the
a biological or medical problem. same social prestige as a university professor.
Educationists and neuroscientists worldwide are unani- Our political, societal and business leaders don’t seem to
mous that birth-to-six years are the most critical founda- be aware of the critical importance of scientifically guided
tional period for the cognitive and emotional development and professionally administered ECCE. But it is an essen-
of human beings. If this foundation is weak, the edifice of tial precondition for Viksit Bharat (developed India) and
society cannot be strong. Indeed, social segregation hinders a $30 trillion GDP economy before the centenary of our
balanced psycho-intellectual development of even rich chil- independence in 2047.
dren. Many of them, when they grow up with little physi- (Sudheendra Kulkarni is a former aide of prime minister Atal Bihari Va-
cal, cultural and emotional contact with their poor coun- jpayee (1999-2004) and currently founder, Forum for a New South Asia)

70 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2024