Page 161 - Education World Dec 2021

the country’s best government-managed anganw adis — education hit hardest by the lockdown for the second year
essentially nutrition centres for newborns and lactating in succession, we are obliged to publish a truncated version
mothers promoted by the Central government since 1976 — of EW India Preschool Rankings 2021-22 in this issue.
that also provide a modicum of early childhood education. “With the national lockdown of education institutions
Currently, there are 1.6 million anganw adis operational having stretched to almost 18 months and preschools
countrywide which provide rudimentary ECCE to 85 remaining shuttered the longest, this year again the survey
million of the country’s 165 million children in the 0-6 of the most reputed preschools is restricted to six cities
age group. Thus far over a decade, your editors have been where there is greater awareness and appreciation of high-
championing the cause of universal professionally provided quality preschool education, viz , Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
ECCE for youngest children in all strata of society. Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. For this limited
Persistent championing of universal ECCE by your survey, our field personnel interviewed 3,205 sample
editors has paid off, even if belatedly. The new National respondents comprising SEC (socio-economic category)
Education Policy (NEP) 2020 accords high importance ‘A’ parents with at least one child in pre-primary education
to formal ECCE for infants. It proposes replacement and preschool principals and teachers. Respondents
of the current national 10+2 primary-secondary and were asked to rate the most-reputed preschools in their
higher secondary schools system with a 5+3+3+4 system cities/towns on ten parameters of pre-primary education
incorporating five years of foundational education — excellence including teacher welfare, leadership, teacher
including ECCE — for all children in the 3-8 age group. competence, curriculum and pedagogy, infrastructure,
Unfortunately, because of India’s unwarrantedly safety and hygiene and parental involvement with higher
prolonged lockdown of all education institutions from weightage accorded to some parameters.
preschools to universities aggregating 16-18 months — “Moreover in light of the prolonged close-down of
the longest freeze of education institutions worldwide preschools since March 2020 and children obliged to learn
— prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and from home, we have retained the parameter of online
commensurate disruption in industry, business and interaction given weightage of 100,” says P re m c h a n d
the media, the EducationWorld calendar has also been P a l e ty , promoter-CEO of the Centre for Forecasting &
disrupted. Although for the past ten years, we have Research (C fore, estb.2000), the reputed market research
been publishing full-fledged EducationWorld India and opinion polls company that has been partnering with
Preschool Rankings league tables rating and ranking EducationWorld to conduct the pioneer annual EW India
the best preschools in 16 cities/towns, with pre-primary Preschool Rankings since 2010.

DECEMBER 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 161