Following stiff opposition, the Tamil Nadu state government has gone back on its decision to shift out kindergarten classes from government schools to anganwadis, Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh announced on Thursday, June 10. This comes after the minister said on June 7 that kindergarten classes would be discontinued in government schools owing to a large number of enrollments and a shortage of teachers, among other reasons. Instead, the government said, parents could enroll their children for KG classes at anganwadi centres in their localities.
In a statement on Thursday, the Tamil Nadu government said, “In 2381 primary and middle government schools in the state, anganwadi centres on the premises have been conducting LKG and UKG classes for some years. Because of the low school enrollments during the previous government’s reign, there had been a surplus of teachers, due to which they had been assigned to LKG and UKG classes in schools.” The statement also claims that with school enrollments increasing in the last one year of the DMK being in power, kindergarten teachers had been transferred to teaching students of classes 1 to 5 instead.
However, as KG classes face a shortage of teachers due to the fact that they were shifted to primary classes, the government has said that it would appoint a sufficient number of KG teachers. Since its June 7 announcement to stop KG at government schools, the DMK government has faced flak from several corners, including the opposition and education experts. Protests were held on June 7 in Thanjavur, as parents opposed the government over its new rule. The parents said that if KG classes at government schools would stop, they would be forced to admit their children to private establishments which poor people may not be able to afford, The New Indian Express reported.