Regulating pre-schools

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten is the title of a best-selling book authored by Robert Fulghum. The title sums up what we already know - many essential life skills are learned at the kindergarten, otherwise known as the Montessori or the pre-school. This is where you learn to use a pair of scissors; it is where you learn to use a pencil; it is where you learn to appreciate music. Above all, it is where you meet friends for the first time. It is the stepping stone to life in the wider society.

In other words, the pre-school is just that - it prepares you for school and for life. It gives the child the skills needed to survive in an increasingly competitive world.

Here in Sri Lanka, the pre-school is a comparatively recent addition to the education scene. In the days gone by, students simply entered Year 1, taking the first step in the education ladder.

Now the rat race in the education sector is so intense, that all parents want to enrol their children in a Montessori. And there is no shortage of these Montessoris all over the island. They have mushroomed all over the country, even in the remotest villages while in the cities one comes across a pre-school every few hundred metres.

Herein lies the danger. There is no proper standard for Montessoris in this country.

Some of them even call themselves 'international' pre-schools emulating the bigger international schools. These are highly dubious claims, but in the present set-up, there is no authority to challenge such establishments.

No one really knows whether most Montessori teachers are qualified to handle and teach the kids, some of whom are thrust into these schools as soon as they are able to walk and utter a few words.

Formulating proper standards and stipulating qualifications for Montessori teachers is therefore essential. New laws will have to be passed in this regard. The Education Ministry should initiate a registration process for the pre-schools and evaluate their overall competence. Only those pre-schools that meet these criteria should be allowed to operate afterwards.

The same process can also ensure uniformity in the fee structure. Most Montessoris charge exorbitant fees from parents, which could be as much those levied by bigger private schools, and also rake in money for events such as concerts. It would be rather prudent if the authorities can regulate the fees at pre-schools so that poor parents are not victimised.

The education authorities should explore the possibility of setting up pre-schools affiliated to main schools in major towns. Several schools in Colombo already have their own pre-schools, which can be considered as models for such an initiative.

This will help parents to steer clear of dubious 'international' Montessoris.

While there is no doubt that the pre-school is a product of the competitive nature of today's education system, it is too late to try to remove an institution so well entrenched in society as some suggest.

The best option is to regularise the pre-school system so that both the young students and their parents are benefitted. The education authorities should move in this direction without delay.

Safeguarding children

It was only Friday that newspapers reported the increase in child abuse. What were most abhorrent were the two extreme cases highlighted. The first was the incident of child abuse by a person 82 years old. One wonders why such child abusers should live so long.

The Second was the abuse of a one month old infant. We wonder whether these offenders are humans or savage animals.

I hope animals would not take offence, for it was yet another expression of human arrogance over their less fortunate co-inhabitants of our common Earth. In fact, animals look after their offspring more caringly than humans. Even the most savage beasts love and guards their offspring ferociously fighting against predators, defending their right to life.

It is time for society to intervene and assist law enforcement authorities to wipe out the shameful practice of child abuse from our soil by all possible means including naming and shaming.