Maharashtra: Draft legislation for pre-primary education submitted to state

Education commissioner hopes that lawmakers pass it in budget session and implement it from next academic year

Draft legislation aimed at incorporating pre-primary education in the ambit of law has been officially submitted to the state government. The state education commissioner has affirmed ongoing efforts to get it passed during the upcoming budget session, with the goal of implementation in the subsequent academic year.

“The draft has been submitted to the state government last week. We are trying to get it approved in the coming budget session. Therefore, all the pre-primary schools (Nursery/ kindergarten) in the state will come under the framework of the law. Once the draft is approved and legislation is passed, these schools will have to obtain state’s approval,” said state education commissioner Suraj Mandhare.

Currently, pre-primary schools, nurseries and kindergartens, primarily catering to children in the age group of three to six-years, do not come under the purview of any regulatory body. Additionally, the total number of such institutions in the state remains unknown. In 1996, the state government devised the Maharashtra Pre-School Centres (Regulation of Admission) Act, 1996, addressing various concerns of this particular segment. However the legislation was scrapped even before implementation under political pressure.

In 2017, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court issued an order directing the Maharashtra government to develop a policy for the regulation of pre-primary schools throughout the state by December 31. Since then, efforts to implement this policy have been underway.

Bringing the pre-primary education under the ambit of law is also a crucial step towards the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). “There is no regulation regarding approval of pre-primary schools and none for the curriculum. The aim is not to take control of existing private pre-primary schools, but to end the disparity in quality of education and curriculum followed. We will ensure that educational institutions will not suffer unnecessarily.  Focus will be on what students are taught in these schools. Because three to six years are very important and formative years,” said Mandhare. As per sources the government is also contemplating application of the Fee Regulation Act (FRA) to govern and regulate fees in private pre-primary institutions.

Dec 31
Date by which the court asked govt to draft policy

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