THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The decision to shift anganwadis functioning in cramped rented buildings to spacious government schools has been dropped following stiff objections raised by parent-teacher associations. Anganwadis will not be operated in schools where pre-primary classes are run jointly by the government and PTA. The PTAs have complained that the presence of anganwadis will affect the functioning of the pre-primary section of government schools.
“Though the move was seen as innovative, even out-of-the-box, it created a sort of class-divide among little kids within the same premises,” a top General Education Department source said. “While children in anganwadis got much more than pre-school education, the kindergarten kids are provided just pre-school education,” the official added. Anganwadis are part of the Integrated Child Development Scheme which offered, besides kindergarten education, various growth-monitoring programmes like immunization and nutrition.
“All of a sudden the school kids looked left out,” the official said. The Education Department had given its approval to shift anganwadis to 121 schools. In fact, the consent of the concerned PTA was secured before identifying the schools. What’s more, over 700 government schools had already been identified for the anganwadi improvement scheme. It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of the 33,112 anganwadis in the state function in unsuited rented buildings.
The immediate objective of the move was to provide children in anganwadis more space for games and outdoor activities and better facilities like toilets. The long-term plan is to improve enrolment in anganwadis, which had been seeing a drop in intake for five consecutive years. “A substantial number of our 34,000-odd anganwadis in the state have inadequate outdoor space. Even when they have land, it is never more than 10 cents,” a top Social Justice official said. “It is also a fact that in a state like Kerala land availability is a major issue. This was why we hit upon this strategy,” he added.
