The government has yet to successfully enforce the registration rule for the country’s kindergarten schools it had promulgated in 2011.
Sources in the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) claimed that the rule could not be enforced mainly due to the objection from the schools’ owners and a nexus between them and the officials.
Without the implementation of the registration rule, kindergarten schools have been mushrooming all over the capital. Most of these schools lack adequate facilities, and employ unqualified teachers.
The current system allows anyone to establish a kindergarten just by acquiring a trade licence from the city corporation office.
In the wake of the fact these schools are failing to provide quality education, the Primary and Mass Education Ministry formulated the registration rule that states that such schools must be registered with the DPE in order to function as an academic institution.
Making the rule mandatory, the ministry also set standards for schools to follow.
According to the rule, a school should have a student-teacher ratio of 30:1 and must be built on 0.08 acres of land with at least 3,000sq-ft of space within the campus.
Furthermore, every school must have a managing committee comprising guardian and teacher representatives, with the headmaster as the member secretary. Headmaster of the nearest government primary school is also required to be a committee member.
The rule also states that the managing committees will supervise teachers’ recruitment and fix tuition fees. Schools cannot charge extra fees from students for re-admission or the purchase of any modern technology and equipment for the school. Schools also cannot teach from textbooks that are not approved by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board.
After the promulgation, however, kindergarten owners demonstrated and threatened to stage bigger protests as most of the schools did not meet the standards set by the ministry.
Following the protest, the government backtracked from its previous position.
The DPE officials have been saying that they would soon enforce the rule, but they have yet to take any action.
When contacted, Director (Policy and Operation) of the DPE Faruque Jalil told the Dhaka Tribune that they were discussing issues with kindergarten owners and would soon enforce the rules.
