Well the odyssey doesn't end there! For if that is not enough; the parental educational background and economic status are thoroughly scrutinized. One needs to sit back and wonder as to what happens to the so called below average child of the lesser educated or lower income parent.
"Think about those children whose parents are not as educated as the rest or the child that is below average in these expected skills for entry into the pre-school"
When its time to put your 3 year old into a pre-school, the decision on which one is the right school can be a harrowing experience by itself. It is indeed a very difficult decision to take. In India we have no standards to evaluate a pre-school; there is no central board that formally lays down guidelines to be followed. So now it comes down to which school advertises more and which one promises to make little adults out of your little angels in a short span of time.
The past decade has seen several pre-school chains that have mushroomed all across the country adding to the existing good old crèche's. Do these schools follow any systems and standards at all? Well to be fair to them; most of them have evolved their own systems and are trying their best to adhere to it. The irony is that there is no national standard in this context, but internationally preschools are considered an important aspect of education, there is a lot of research that goes on to ensure that the right systems and methodology is adopted. A lot of pre-schools claim that they are following international standards. Rarely if ever, does one come across any pre-school in India that adheres to the stringent laws and standards followed internationally.
Pre-schools are known by their founders who are normally renowned educationists and have a lot of learning in pedagogy and child development. But the important factor that determines the quality of the pre-school is not the founder but the staff and systems in place in the School. The staff has to be well-trained, well-groomed and passionate. The school has to be hygienic, well lit, well ventilated and the furniture has to be child friendly, using materials that do not cause any harm. Schools should maintain a good student teacher ratio.
It is said that 'play' and 'struggle' are two major factors that determine the learning of pre-school children. The curriculum should be devised in a manner that makes room for a lot of active learning and play for children and with a lot of touch and feel equipment. There should be an element of struggle for children to stretch their imagination, creativity and physical self, to discover learning. Social skills and communication skills need to be given more importance than academically oriented subjects. Most importantly the pre-schools should aim at making individualistic little children out of their students and not factory made little adults as the society or media would want them to be.
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