BHUBANESWAR: Childhood is precious. Well spent initial days often have a positive influence on one’s personality. However, small kids seem to have lost their laughter due to the pressure exerted on them at playschools.
Kids as young as two are being sent by their parents to such schools. While some take to crying, others seem to be lost, waiting for their parents to return and take them back home.
Orissa Post interacted with various playschool heads, teachers, parents and a child psychiatrist-cum-psychologist to delve whether playschools are necessary for children or it’s simply a fad being followed by parents in the city.
Nidhi Dhawan, Principal, Happy Hours Playschool said, “I believe that nothing can match the warmth of a home. However, working parents as well as parents of nuclear families want their kids to be friendly and playful. They want their children to interact with other kids. This prompts them to send their kids such schools. I run an institution where 55 teaching and non-teaching (Aiyas) staffers take care of these children. We have unconditional love for them. We provide a home-like environment, a sprawling garden with geese, rabbits and birds that play with the kids under the supervision of a caretaker. We also make sure that children play, read and learn at our institution. Small children are given a playground where we interact with them. In our institution, playschool translates to games and good times.”
Anipa, a parent whose son is in the playschool said, “The environment at the school opens them up to colours, friends and group activities among others. It’s essential for the mental development of a child.”
Savantika, another parent whose daughter is also in playschool, said that it’s a platform where new subjects are being taught. The art of making new friends and sharing meals is taught at the playschool. While Happy Hours matched the standards of a playschool in terms of facilities, there are other schools which seem to have none.
Principal of ABC Montessori playschool Aleena Kar said, “Our school is meant for teaching pre–school children and we try to give kids a homely environment. However, the school lacks a big playground. We have swings, seesaws and other equipments. Small kids are asked to carry out activities such as rolling pins, picking colours, learning alphabets and more. Some of the kids are keen to play while others want to go home. Some children cry on their first day at the playschool.”
On being enquired about the small playground, Kar said, “We are managing it very well and we often take the children to play at the grounds.”
School coordinator Smita said, “We are looking after the children as their parents are busy. They are not able to provide them with the care that they need. From good toys to delicious food, we take care of everything. Those who don’t want to eat learn how to eat in the friendly atmosphere of a playschool.”
Nischala Rout, a resident of Sahidnagar, whose daughter is a student of a playschool said, “I have to look after other members of the family in the morning. So I have to leave my daughter at the playschool. She will adapt to her surroundings just like other kids.”
East Point School, Cuttack road runs a similar playschool. It seems to lack a proper playground for children to play. They are forced to play inside a room. Admitting this, Principal Bidyutprava Mohanty said, “We do get complaints on the non-availability of a playschool. So we take our kids to the IMFA Park at Sahidnagar where kids play to their hearts content.”
Child Psychologist and Psychiatrist Amrit Pattojoshi of AMRI Hospital said, “Nowadays parents are involved in the rat race of making their kids join celebrated schools. That’s why toddlers are being pushed into playschools. While some offer good ambience, care and love, many are negligent. We should give children the freedom to play in the dirt, run after a butterfly and laugh with playmates. It’s time to rethink the need to push our little ones to commercialised places.”
Chaitali Shome, OP