Reviving pre-school education in rural India
Raising smart kids by providing good education and implanting moral values is the first responsibility of every parent so that their children can become wellrounded, self-reliant and responsible citizen.
There is a line written by Wordsworth in his poem ‘The Rainbow’ that “Child is the Father of Man”.
This phrase basically means that adults are the product of the behaviour, etiquettes, thoughts, and habits that they inculcate during their childhood.
That is the reason why preschool education plays an important role in shaping a child’s development with knowledge and early learning experiences as 90% of brain’s capacity development happens before the age of 5.
The changes in social and economic structure of India have intensified the need of early childhood education. Preschooling is no more a luxury and is considered as the foundation of the child’s formal education.
Pre-schools have cropped in every part of India. Earlier it was very common in urban areas however the concept is slowly becoming popular in smaller cities as well.
In December 2017, a market research report by a Londonbased firm ‘Technavio’ revealed that the pre-school sector in India is likely to achieve a compound annual growth rate of approximately 32% in the coming three to four years. This has happened due to an increase in the parental demand for preschools especially in rural India.
The key players in the preschool sector are expanding wings across every corner of the country which is resulting in the exponential growth of preschool market in India.
There are few factors that are driving growth of preschool segment in rural India such as:
Increasing demand for firstrate pre-primary education for children - families in the rural areas are aware of the scenario in the developing part of the country and that is why they want to educate their children to match the level of education standards in urban areas.
Improved standard of living people in the rural areas have somehow managed to improve their standard of living which results in the adaptation of urban lifestyle.
Increase in the number of working members - Indian government has started a number of initiatives in Tier- 3 and Tier- 4 cities, a lot of family members have started earning and this is the reason that the people in rural areas understand the importance of education.
Government campaigns for promoting pre-primary education – government officials are organising awareness campaigns to council the families on the ‘importance of early education’.
Government is strategically influencing the families by providing free food and health check-ups to lure parents for sending their kids to school.
Also, these factors are rejuvenating the pre-school education in rural India and with the changing competitive scenario the pre-school players are innovating in various ways to capture a greater market share by offering good learning techniques and better teaching.
A study by UNICEF has revealed that the majority of four year old children in rural areas of Rajasthan, Assam and Telangana are attending preschools, either private or government run-Anganwadi centres.
It is expected that the next 10 years of market growth will be primarily driven by the increase in adoption of early education by the rural population of 3–6 year old, both private and government sponsored.
Since 1975, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been providing free of cost integrated child development services (ICDS) through education centres called Anganwadis.
This covers the areas of health, nutrition, community awareness and non-formal preschool education for children in rural areas, slums and underdeveloped area through early childhood care.
The preschool market of India is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 23% during 20172022. The organised playschools operating on franchise models are set to expand more and more in India, especially in the rural areas.
The current scenario explains that with the increase in demand for branded and organised pre-schools, this sector in India will witness tremendous growth in the coming few years.