Pre-primary is the foundation of primary education system. Pre-primary education is currently one of the milestones in the primary education system. Pre-primary education plays a key role in our grass-root level children's schools overcome their fear and introduce the alphabet in rhythm, dance and song and advance on the path of enlightenment. Through this education, children form the foundation of the family environment as well as the school and adapt themselves to the school environment. The earlier fear and inertia of going to school among common students has been reduced to a great extent after the introduction of pre-primary education system. The overall reflection of which is that the student enrollment rate has increased compared to any time in the past, while the dropout rate is decreasing significantly.
Despite the incredible success of pre-primary education, we are lagging behind in achieving the desired goals due to some limitations. Here are some points about the limitations or problems of pre-primary and what we can do to solve them:
(1) The role of timely teaching materials is essential to ensure a learning environment conducive to learning. Pre-primary children are very sensitive and emotional because of their young age. So teaching through play materials is more effective. But due to lack of sufficient educational materials in the educational institutions, we cannot reach the desired goal. This problem is especially observed in field level schools.
(2) In pre-primary class the teacher-student ratio is supposed to be 1:30 but in most schools this ratio exceeds 1:60 or 1:70. As a result, class teachers are struggling to teach, and students are also not able to reach their desired goals at the end of the year.
(3) Children aged 5+ years are admitted in pre-primary class. Due to the young age of the students, most of the parents do not give much importance to their children's education. Also there is lack of awareness among our field level parents. They often take their children to relatives' houses, not sending them to school due to physical illness or minor reasons is a routine matter. This regular absence disrupts the consistent learning progress of young children.
(4) In order to create attraction in children's classrooms, although there is an order to give priority to the best room in the school in the selection of pre-primary classrooms, exceptions are observed in our schools due to infrastructural or administrative problems. This reduces the interest of students towards the school and we are constantly failing to achieve the desired goals.
(5) As there are two separate curricula at the primary level namely primary and pre-primary, teachers are appointed separately for pre-primary. Pre-primary teachers need to be child-friendly and psychologically minded. But due to the lack of this mindset among the teachers or due to not preparing themselves in that way, it is not possible to achieve the desired goal.
(6) So far in our country teachers have been recruited by creating pre-primary posts only in old government primary schools. But posts were not created in nationalized schools at various stages. However, even if one teacher of each school receives 15 days of pre-primary training, it is not possible to teach this class regularly due to shortage of teachers in field level schools. This leaves a large section deprived of pre-primary education.
(7) In our country there is an inadequacy of resources compared to population. Due to this, the amount of money required for the purchase of necessary materials and other materials is not available every year. Moreover, failure to ensure accountability in proper utilization of the allocations received is one of the obstacles in pre-primary education.
(8) Co-curricular activities play a special role in removing boredom among children. Although co-curricular activities are made compulsory at primary level, co-curricular activities are not conducted in most schools.
(9) Pre-primary is a special education system at the primary level. In this system, those who focus on teaching, need regular special training to make the teaching strategy process dynamic and attractive. But as there is no such system, there is a shortage of teachers in teaching.
(10) In our country, the number of schools in rural areas is very less than in cities. Due to this, village children are often victims of discrimination. Equalization of schools in urban and rural areas is necessary to ensure education or quality education for all.
(11) Due to some problems in the pre-primary teacher recruitment process, the desired target of this class is not being achieved. Especially the 15-day long training on pre-primary subjects, even though there is a provision to enroll those finally selected as teachers in the revenue sector, most of the teachers cannot fully prepare themselves for teaching pre-primary classes as it is not reflected in reality.
(12) Kindergarten schools have been built around our society like the umbrella of a bang. Only the conscious parents of the society compete to get their children admitted in these schools. Due to lack of importance in government primary schools, relatively talented students are admitted to Kinder Garden . And relatively less talented students remain in government primary schools.
In view of the above problems, the following solutions can be taken :
(1) Sufficient provision of teaching materials related to lessons should be kept, so that the monotony of theoretical education is removed, children are more focused and enjoy reading.
(2) Teacher to student ratio should be 1 : 30 so that there is no difficulty in teaching. The teacher can focus on each student.
(3) Regular home visits, yard meetings, mother gatherings, parent gatherings should be organized.
(4) Many of our schools have infrastructural problems. To overcome this problem in these schools, separate pre-primary classrooms should be constructed.
(5) Selection of child-friendly teachers should be given utmost importance in the recruitment process. Appropriate pre-primary teachers should be appointed by revising the recruitment process if necessary.
(6) Recruitment of pre-primary teachers should be provided in all nationalized schools in different stages like the old government primary schools.
(7) Separate allotment should be provided as per requirement with special emphasis on pre-primary class. In this case, it is subject to investigation to arrange the allocation as per the requirement of the institution.
(8) Teaching through play engages the child's mind and creates interest. Therefore, strategies to master studies through various games should be applied.
(9) Pre-primary education is a distinct stream of education outside the traditional primary education. Regular special training of pre-primary teachers should be arranged to keep this unique stream of education system dynamic .
(10) In our country there are more primary education centers in cities than in villages. Therefore, equality should be achieved by establishing schools on the basis of population in rural areas as well.
(11) Appropriate education friendly, non-intimidating environment should be created for children.
(12) Regular inspection should be continued. In order to know what kind of difficulties the students are facing.
Author: Md Mahbub Hasan, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Jaldhaka, Nilphamari.
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