What are the Quality Standards in place for Play Schools & Pre-Schools?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 12, 2018
There has been a proliferation of Play Schools & Pre-Schools in the recent times. But what are the guidelines & quality standards in place for such entities? Here is a look at the quality standards laid down in the ECCE policy.
The government’s  Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme or more commonly known as the Anganwadi scheme is probably the  largest such program  in the world. The scheme’s primary beneficiaries are children in the 0-6 age group (158 million as per 2011 Census). The scheme offers six services and  ‘Pre-school Education’ is one of the six services extended under this scheme. In the recent times, there has been a proliferation of private play schools and pre-schools. To lay down certain norms & standards for such entities, the government had notified the ‘ National Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) Policy’  in 2013. Among other things, the policy lays down certain non-negotiable quality standards to be followed by all such service providers.
The Non-Negotiable Quality Standards for Play Schools & Pre-Schools
At the minimum, all ECCE service providers have to comply with the following non-negotiable indicators
Quality Standards & Framework
The guidelines also specify the following  eight Quality Standards.
The  National ECCE Council and corresponding Councils at State level  are supposed to act as the regulatory & monitoring bodies in charge of periodic review, co-ordination with other departments and creating public awareness among  other things .
The government has also released the  ECCE curriculum framework  to be followed by all ECCE service providers.  ECCE training module for Anganwadi workers  has also been released recently. An  e-learning module  has also been developed. These modules can be accessed from the website of  National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development.
Action Point: If you come across any Play School or Pre-School not conforming to the relevant standards, write to the  Women & Child Development department of the State Government  or file a grievance on the  CPGRAMS  portal with the Ministry of Women & Child Development of Government of India.