CHENNAI: The Tamil
Nadu government in its draft preschool syllabus, released on Thursday, has proposed to extend class hours for pre-kindergarten students from 9.30am to 4pm.
At present, most private schools in Chennai and other parts of the state wind up pre-KG sections by 1pm.
Though the draft syllabus, released by State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT), states that pre-KG students will be allowed to have a nap after lunch, activities are planned even after the sleeping time ends.
The proposal has evoked mixed responses from parents, schools and educationists. While a section opposing it said making such young children stay for long hours in a school setup would be detrimental to their health, working parents from nuclear families welcomed it.
S Arumainathan, president, Tamil Nadu Students’ Parents Welfare Association said there was no study presented by the Tamil Nadu government to prove that starting formal education at such a young age will help them. “Though the draft syllabus prescribes various play-based activities, the child should ideally run around or play in the open instead of sitting in classrooms,” he said.
However, Andrew Sesuraj, a child rights’ activist, said the move would help working parents focus better on their work. “But having a fixed schedule, frequent switchovers and a spectrum of work in the same day might not help the children in reaching the goal. Instead, it should be flexible and teachers should have the time to explore their creativity,” he said.
Experts said the government, instead of coming out with a syllabus, can issue a framework which schools can follow. Private schools said they already had a syllabus for lower and upper kindergarten sections and books, mostly NCERT-based, are distributed to them.
“But pre-KG is more like a daycare centre and it is absurd to have a syllabus for them as they are too small for afternoon activities post
sleep,” said R Vishalakshi, president of Tamil Nadu Private Matriculation Schools Association.