CHENNAI : The new syllabus for kindergarten in matriculation schools promises to change the face of early childhood education in the State, according to members of the Tamil Nadu Forum for Crèche and Childcare Services (TN-FORCES).

However, lack of governmental will and absence of adequate number of trainers for pre-primary teachers could slow down its implementation, they said.

There are some schools which have not yet received the new syllabus and several more where teachers were not informed of the new syllabus that came into force in the 2005-2006 academic year. The syllabus takes into account that children are beginning to attend school from as early as three years. Outdoor activities, games, oral recitation of numbers and alphabets are some of its units, with an emphasis on activity rather than the 3Rs.

Teaching the new syllabus will require most of the pre-primary teachers to radically change their teaching regimes.

Educationists pointed out that pre-primary teachers are on the lowest rung of the teaching hierarchy.

They are also worried about the mushrooming of teacher training institutes in the State with no recognition or proper guidelines, often run by trainers with little or no back ground in early childhood education (ECE).

Trainers have said that a teacher trainer needs a background in ECE with practical experience to conduct programmes. There were no government-recognised qualifications for pre-primary teachers, until the Tamil Nadu Open University introduced the Diploma in Pre-Primary Education recently.

"Though the diploma can be administered in 198 centres, none of these centres have had training in the teaching of the course itself," said Prema Daniel, consultant on early childhood education.

Curriculum formulation

Ms. Daniel has been part of an initiative to formulate a curriculum for ECE teacher training. Their proposed curriculum now awaits the recognition of the National Council for Teacher Education. TN-FORCES is trying to partially remedy the lack of experienced teacher trainers with a workshop to emphasise the methodology of training in early May. Linked to the new syllabus, it will be conducted by experts such as Meena Swaminathan and representatives from the Indian Council for Child Welfare, Vidya Vikasini and Kothari Academy.

The workshop will aim to introduce the participants to the modern trends in ECE and provide knowledge of how children develop and learn.

Organisers also hope that it will enable teaching through the experiential method and help implement and monitor courses in ECE.

The workshop is scheduled to be held from May 2 to 5 at the ICSA on Pantheon Road, Egmore. For details, contact TN FORCES on 28175659.

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