Kerala’s preschool education to be standardised; Anganwadis set to integrate with schools

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala state government is preparing to formally include preschool education within the general education system, ahead of enforcing class 1 admissions at the age of six. The General Education Department and the Women and Child Development Department have been instructed to develop a unified preschool framework to ensure structured learning for children between three and five years.

According to official sources, standard guidelines for preschool education will come into force from the next academic year. Under the proposed plan, all anganwadis will function as part of the general education stream.

The responsibility of drafting the common preschool curriculum has been assigned to the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) under the General Education Department. At present, there are 2,200 schools offering LKG and UKG classes, including 53 government-run institutions. Alongside this, the state has more than 33,000 anganwadis.

The uniform curriculum will be introduced in anganwadis as well as LKG and UKG classes from the upcoming academic year. The approach aims to retain the existing structure of anganwadis while aligning their activities with government schools that do not have preschool facilities.

In cases where schools lack both a preschool section and an affiliated anganwadi, the National Education Policy (NEP) mandates the establishment of a nursery school (Bala Vatikas) within the campus. As per NEP guidelines, students will be eligible for admission to class 1 only after completing six years of age.

Kerala has not yet enforced the NEP stipulation of six years for class 1 entry, as it is expected to impact teaching positions. During the current academic year, over half of the students admitted to class 1 were over six years old.

The state has decided to maintain the existing system for the next academic year as well, with the six-year age criterion planned for implementation from the 2027–28 academic year. A separate government order will be issued to formalise this decision. The initiative forms part of the Comprehensive Quality Improvement Programme.