Out of the 541 private schools of the country, 410 have accepted Government’s conditions and embarked on the free pre-primary schooling programme. The conditions are as follows: one Manager for each school; one Assistant Manager for each school with more than 101 children; one Teacher for each group of 15 children; one Assistant-Teacher for each group of 15 children and one School Attendant for every 50 children (up to a maximum of 5).
The programme is being supervised by the Early Childhood Care & Education Authority. School heads can expect to receive their ‘Operational Expenses’ around January 10, with amounts ranging from Rs 240,000 to Rs 650,000. The first payment will be based on the number of children enrolled in each school in October 2023. Subsequent disbursements will be made on a quarterly basis.
Early childhood professionals will now be paid monthly, with payments made at the beginning of each term, subject to the submission of a financial report to ECCEA. To qualify for the new conditions, private pre-schools must be registered with ECCEA, have a full-time manager and cater for children aged 3 or over until they enter elementary school. In addition, managers will be required to hold a Diploma in Early Childhood Management from 2029, with training courses under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.
Free pre-primary schooling was announced by the Prime Minister on Independence Day 2023. Pravind Jugnauth explained that it will be implemented in January 2024.
