Against the backdrop of the Union government having made early childhood education subject to official regulation for the first time by formulating a National Early Childhood Care and Education (NECCE) policy which received cabinet approval on September 20 last year, the first panel discussion of the EW ECE Global Conference 2014 focused on the subject of ‘Government control of ECCE — pros and cons’. Chaired by Dilip Thakore (DT), editor of EducationWorld, the panel comprised Dr. Rekha Sen (RS), chair professor, Centre for Early Childhood Development & Research, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi; Sudeshna Sengupta (SS), head advocacy of Delhi-based NGO Mobile Crèches; Raj Grover (RG), chief mentor of Kangaroo Kids Education which has nurtured over 100 preschools under the franchise model across India; and Vijay Pareek (VP), the Bangalore-based national operations manager of EuroKids International Pvt. Ltd. Excerpts from the 100-minute panel discussion which provoked passionate and animated comment from the panelists, and enthusiastic participation from the floor. DT: Six months ago, the government approved a policy to regulate privately provided early childhood education for the first time. But government regulation in private primary-secondary education has proved to be a two-edged sword, and opened up opportunities for bribes-hungry education ministry inspectors. So maybe NECCE will destroy the progress made in ECCE thus far. What’s your comment Dr. Sen? RS: I am an academic and don’t represent the government. However the NECCE policy is the outcome of sustained advocacy and campaign by activists to ensure that every child in the age group 0-5 years receives minimally acceptable quality ECCE. Government regulation is necessary to ensure minimum quality and standards. Article 45 of the Constitution promised provision of early childhood education to all children until age 14, within ten years of its commencement, but it has taken over 60 years for the NECCE policy to be approved, so we should welcome it. DT: The Union government’s ICDS programme, started in 1975 to provide early childhood care and nutrition to children in the 0-5 age group, covers barely 50 percent of the 158 million children and currently 46 percent of the country’s children suffer severe malnutrition. Government intervention has been a complete failure, so why should it succeed in ECCE? RS: ICDS might have done a poor job of nutrition but I believe government will do a better job in early childhood education. Ensuring quality and standards in ECCE is a government responsibility, and it must be held accountable for them. This is not to say we don’t need private preschools. We need everyone to pitch in to provide for our 158 million children under age five. However private sector preschools are high end and also mere creches which certainly need regulation to deliver quality. The first objective is for preschools to register by adhering to minimum teacher pupil ratios, floor area, and infrastructure requirements. The next step is accreditation which involves appraisal perhaps through peer rather than government review. Government regulation need not be heavy handed. SS: The essential purpose of the NECCE policy is to showcase the country’s commitment towards infants —…
