Setback for Haryana's Bal Vatika scheme as 466 schools report no enrolments this year

Time of India

a day ago

Gurgaon: Haryana's pre-school education scheme Bal Vatika, though introduced in 8,400 govt schools across the state, has found no takers in 466 institutes this academic year.
Most of the schools with no admissions under Bal Vatika are in Yamunanagar (79), followed by Kurukshetra (47), Rewari (41), Panchkula and Ambala (40 each), Faridabad (18) and Gurgaon (17).
Under the scheme, launched last year, children aged three or more can take admission into BalVatika 1. The minimum age for admission in Balvatika 2 is four, and Balvatika 3 is five. This three-tier model is similar to private kindergarten schools that offer nursery, LKG and UKG classes.
Before this, govt school education in Haryana began with Class 1.
The Bal Vatika initiative was announced to plug this gap as the lack of kindergarten education in govt facilities forced families in rural areas and with low incomes to directly admit their children into Class 1.
Gurgaon's project coordinator for the scheme, Manoj Lakhra, told TOI on Tuesday that 365 govt schools in the district offer kindergarten education.
"However, 17 schools in Gurgaon reported zero admissions. Most of these schools are in rural areas or small hamlets, where population density is very low. In some villages, only two or three children may be born in a year. In such cases, these children often attend nearby private crèches instead," Lakhra said.
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Other than the preference for private school education, Lakhra said, another challenge for the Bal Vatika scheme was the lack of dedicated staff.
"Class 1 teachers have been asked to handle Bal Vatika students too. This, too, makes some parents sceptical about govt education and prompts them to choose private schools," he said.
Still, the education department is trying to promote enrollment by organising rallies, conducting meetings with school management committees (SMCs) and motivating school heads.
"Our aim is not only to support working parents who want to enroll their children early, but also to strengthen govt school enrollment by bridging the early childhood education gap. Bal Vatika is aligned with the goal of holistic and preparatory learning for young children," Lakhra said.
Asked about low enrolment, an education department official said the Bal Vatika programme was still in early stages of implementation, with just a year having passed since it was launched.
"In some govt schools, the overall enrollment is also low. They have just 20–25 children in total. So, naturally, the number of children in Bal Vatika is also low in such schools," the official said.
He explained that many families are not aware of the Bal Vatika scheme, and instead, send their children to anganwadi centres.
He said anganwadi centres also offer kindergarten education, but these facilities also focus on providing nutrition and health check-ups to children under the age of 6 along with women who are pregnant or new mothers.
"In contrast, Bal Vatika was introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP) and aims to formalize pre-school education for children aged 3-6, with focus on literacy, numeracy and school readiness. While anganwadis emphasise holistic child development and welfare, Bal Vatikas are more education-centric," the official said.
According to govt figures, 64,000 children have enrolled under Bal Vatika scheme in Haryana so far.