Articles

As a result of the growing awareness of the importance of the first six years of a child’s life, an enormous number of initiatives are being made across the globe to ensure universal access to quality ECCE for all children. India, too, has made major reforms in this direction. In this context, one of the significant developments has been the National Education Policy 2020. This is the first education policy of the 21st Century. This policy lays significant emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education (3-6 years) by ensuring universal access to high-quality ECCE across the country to be achieved no later than 2030. Over the last decade, India has seen a drastic change in the ownership of preschools; in terms of private preschools, though fewer in number, multiplying rapidly. The popular perception of preschool education is that the government can address coverage, and private initiatives can provide efficiency. Many parents also perceive private preschools as more efficient in fulfilling their aspirations. They are also willing to pay for their children’s preschool education disregarding the affordability. There is monopolistic competition in private preschools at the national level, specifically by the growth of many branded private preschools. Apart from this, there are a large number of private stand-alone preschools that have emerged to cater to the growing needs of the preschool provision. Among these private preschools, there are also small-budget private preschools (SBPPS) run by individual enterprises. These SBPPS charge low fees and are affordable to middle and lower-middle-class families. The present study attempts to study the SBPPS regarding infrastructural facilities (human and physical), the teaching-learning strategies, and the parents’ connotations regarding preschool education.