The Kerala government will soon come out with an Act to regularise the functioning of playschools and creches in the state. The act likely to be known as the Kerala Playschool, Creche Regularization Act is for ensuring the basic amenities for children and to safeguard their rights.
As per sources, before coming out with the said act the government is likely to frame an operational guideline for playschools and creches and a mechanism to monitor them. The decision was taken following some incidents of child abuses from playschools and creches in the recent past that the government decided to draft such an act and to come out with an operational guideline for them.
"The Right to Education Act sets certain norms for providing quality education including the development of a curriculum which would ensure the all-round development of the child. But its major limitation is that it is meant for children in the age group of six to fourteen years," said Biju Prabhakar, special secretary, Social Justice and Women and Child Development Departments.
"The state government is of the view that when it comes to children admitted to playschools and creches those are their foundation years in terms of education and there is a need to build on the child’s knowledge, potentiality and talent. An act of this kind will guarantee the same."
According to him, a legal framework is of this kind will help to ensure that a child admitted to a playschool/creche had a system which is of a child-friendly one and is being received with child-centred learning.
"There is Maharashtra PreSchool Centres (Regulation of Admission) Act and a Regulatory Guidelines for Private Play Schools prepared by the Education Division of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. While drafting the state-specific act we will consider these act and guideline also," added Biju.
At the same time, sources said that though a draft of the bill has been prepared a meeting with various stakeholders including experts in the field will have to be conducted. After incorporating their suggestions it will be submitted to various departments including the Law Department for their thorough vetting. Once the departments gave its approval it will be released to the public domain. After that, the bill will be presented in the Assembly for becoming an Act.
