Maharashtra Makes Registration Mandatory for All Private Pre-Primary Schools

To bring unregulated early childhood education institutes under official oversight, the Maharashtra School Education Department has made it mandatory for all private pre-primary schools to register with the government. So far, 17,542 such institutions have registered on the official portal, with the number expected to rise further in the coming weeks.

The registration drive covers all privately run early education institutions operating under various names such as pre-school, nursery, junior KG, senior KG, and pre-primary. As part of the process, schools must submit detailed information regarding their management, number of students, teaching and non-teaching staff, and available physical infrastructure.

Many of these schools, often run from small premises in urban alleys and residential areas, were previously operating without any government records. Until now, there was no consolidated data available on such institutions.

Children aged three to six in Maharashtra are currently receiving education at anganwadis, kindergartens, pre-primary classes attached to schools, and privately run pre-primary centres. The state government aims to build a comprehensive database at the state and district levels to ensure better monitoring and transparency, also making such information more accessible to parents.

This initiative aligns with the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises the need for free, safe, high-quality, and inclusive early childhood education in a nurturing environment.

According to the latest data, 11,054 schools have completed full registration, while 6,488 have registered but submitted incomplete information. Pune district tops the list with 2,617 schools registered, whereas Sindhudurg ranks lowest, with just 60 schools recorded so far.

District wise school registration

Pune – 2617; Ahilyanagar – 874; Akola – 348; Amravati – 380; Bhandara – 163; Beed – 381; Buldhana – 272; Chandrapur – 306; Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar – 1057; Dharashiv-204; Dhule – 214; Gadchiroli – 123; Gondia – 169; Hingoli – 147; Jalgaon – 522; Jalna – 352; Kolhapur – 571; Latur – 470; Mumbai (BMC) – 593; Mumbai – 166; Nagpur – 1004; Nanded – 726; Nandurbar – 83; Nashik – 887; Palghar – 334; Parbhani – 452; Raigad – 416; Ratnagiri – 139; Sangli – 355; Satara – 307; Sindhudurg – 60; Solapur – 599; Thane – 1668; Wardha – 150; Washim – 149 and Yavatmal – 284.