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by Kushani Ratnayake

"The man of tomorrow is the child of today", these words of wisdom will have no weight if developing the child's personality is ignored. The need for reliable pre-schools is a must when it comes to education since it lays the foundation in every child's life. Children get their first glimpse of education during the pre-schooling period.

Today, it would seem that pre-schools outnumber children, but can parents rely on them is the question. It is essential for a child to have a solid foundation when it comes to education.

Pre-primary education is offered only by private individuals and institutions plus local government authorities and NGOs. These schools generally cater to children aged three to five. Nearly 60 per cent of children go to pre-schools before they enter the formal education period. It is the devotion, motivation and the skills of the primary teacher that enable them to assist and impart a better primary education for the children of Sri Lanka.

The pre-school period is a very important time of growth, physical growth and in intellectual and emotional development. Early childhood from two to five years of age is the most important period in an individual's life. Growth during this period is very rapid and fundamental to future development. It is also the stage when the child is most vulnerable to the environmental influences.

It is rather shocking to visit schools run by untrained teachers. Many excuses have been made as to the deplorable situation of the premises, the unqualified staff and indeed the lack of training and the qualification of the proprietors themselves. To eradicate this situation the Children's Secretariat has started programs to develop these pre-schools and train the teachers.

A National Policy on Childhood has been prepared and will be implemented by the Social Services Ministry in a bid to improve the standards of pre-schools, which are mushrooming throughout the country. "Under the proposed National Policy all pre-school teachers will be given a standard training on Montessori education", Director to the Children's Secretariat Sunil Samaraweera said.

A child's first experience of school should be made as positive as possible. Most pre-schools are below stipulated standards. The number of pre-schools functioning in the country, is uncertain because there is no registration system for such schools.

Under the proposed national policy, all pre-school teachers will be given a standard training on pre-school education.

According to Samaraweera, a pre-school should have enough space and should have the capacity and ability to develop the standards of a child such as physical development, emotional development, cognitive development, social development, language development, creativity and behaviour patterns. "Pre-school education is the foundation for quality primary education of a child. It needs to begin with the pre-school teacher. The minimum qualification that a majority of the pre-school teachers have is the G.C.E Ordinary Level examination. None of them have obtained montessori training" he said.

According to reports most pre-schools do not have even minimal conditions suitable for children, as pre-schools have today become self-employment projects. "The parents should also take the responsibility and obtain more information about the pre-school and talk with the pre-school teacher", he said.

The Children's Secretariat is the main Government institution dealing with child development and is functioning as the focal point for monitoring and the co-ordination of programs implemented jointly by the Government and non-governmental organisations to ensure the total development of Sri Lankan children during their early childhood. There has not been a systematic survey of pre-schools in Sri Lanka for over three decades. The Children's Secretariat is now conducting a national survey of all pre-schools registered with the provincial councils and others that are not registered. The total number so far included in the survey is around 12,500.

"There are around 20,000 pre-school teachers and 30 per cent are not qualified.

"For them, we are going to start a certificate course together with the Open University of Sri Lanka.

"We also have an awareness program for parents to create awareness about the total development of the child" he said.

"We hope to start a special course on Early Childhood Care Development in every university; at the moment only the Open university and the University of Sabaragamuwa have this course".

A child begins to learn through sensory experiences and activities within its environment. Therefore both parents and teachers have the responsibility to bring them up in a good environment.

A good foundation in the field of education has the capability to provide virtuous citizens of the future.

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