PANEL DISCUSSION Designing low-cost/affordable models for ECCE The first panel discussion of the EducationWorld Early Childhood National Conference 2017 chaired by EW managing editor Summiya Yasmeen, featured a galaxy of experts in pre-primary education invited from across the country. The high-powered panel, which debated ‘Designing low-cost/affordable models for ECCE,’ comprised Nilesh Nimkar (NN), founder of the Quality Education Support Trust, a Palghar-based NGO which provides ECCE to 20,000 underprivileged children in rural Maharashtra; Priya Krishnan (PK), CEO of Founding Years Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd which has promoted the KLAY and Little Company day care centres and preschools in seven cities countrywide; Fatema Agarkar (FA), co-founder and CEO of KA EduAssociates, a Mumbai-based education management company and Vishesh Parnerkar (VP) of FSG, a US-based non-profit social impact consulting firm. Excerpts from the 60-minute parleys: SY: Contrary to Left propaganda, India has perhaps the world’s cheapest private education system. Currently, there are an estimated 300,000 private preschools offering early childhood care and education (ECCE) at all price points to 10 million children countrywide. The Central government also provides rudimentary ECCE to 80 million children in the 0-5 age group in its 1.34 million anganwadis established under the ICDS programme. According to a 2015 report of NITI Aayog, 51.8 percent of anganwadis suffer poor hygiene and sanitation conditions, teachers are ill-trained and the majority have no education programme. What’s the alternative? In K-12 education as a response to poor quality government schools, an estimated 300,000 private budget schools with an enrolment of 60 million students have sprung up over the past two decades across the country. Can the private sector similarly provide bottom-of-the-pyramid parents an alternative to dysfunctional anganwadis at affordable cost? VP: Before I answer the question, I want to share some numbers. Recently, FSG conducted a survey in which we interviewed 4,300 households in the income bracket of Rs.10,000-25,000 per month in urban areas. Ninety percent of them said they are sending their children to private preschools. So from the perspective of parents, there is a perception that government anganwadis are not providing quality ECCE. From class I onwards, they prefer to enroll their children in private budget schools, most of which had also started kindergarten sections to cater to demand for preschool education. We tested some 200 children in budget primary schools who had received preschool education and found that 30 percent of them couldn’t read three-letter words or identify 1-20 numerals — competencies expected of children in class I. At FSG, we are actively exploring if high-quality service providers can help budget preschools improve children’s learning outcomes. SY: Priya, as an investor in Hippocampus Learning Centres, a chain of 263 affordable private preschools sited in tier III towns and villages of Karnataka, what’s your comment? PK: In India, all households are willing to sacrifice a large proportion of income for their children’s education provided they know they are getting some value. So to answer your question whether quality ECCE can be provided at low cost, I believe yes. Hippocampus is a good example.…
