Govt for PPP model to develop pre-school education system

New Delhi: Aiming to give a push to the facelift of pre-school infrastructure development, the government has advocated roping in private players for a robust pre-school education format under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Stressing on the role of PPP model in developing pre-school education system, Union Education Secretary Anil Swarup said, "The government or private sector alone cannot solve the humongous task of redefining the pre-school education system in India. Volume or size can come from government, but quality will come from the private sector."

While addressing the FICCI ARISE 'Re-imagining Pre-school Education' conference on Friday, Swarup said that the role of PPP is vital for a robust pre-school education format.

Highlighting that lack of trained teachers in one of the most challenging tasks in pre-school education, the School Education Secretary recommended that the private sector to submit ideas to the government with a focused approach, keeping in mind that the idea is politically acceptable, socially desirable, technologically feasible, financially viable and administratively doable.

Notably, developing pre-school infrastructure is part of Integrated Scheme on School Education, which is scheduled to be launched on May 16. A pilot project was also started by HRD Ministry in the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim to study the impact of the integrated scheme.

Given the success of the scheme, the ministry has approved the launch of the integrated scheme in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Puducherry. The ministry has also decided to include vocational courses such as Information Technology, healthcare, tourism & travel, retail and security under the scheme, which would be rolled out from June 14.