Government ‘slightly’ relaxes registration rules for Kindergartens

The interim government has relaxed certain land-related conditions for the registration of private primary schools or kindergartens.

Teachers have thanked the government for revising the regulations in line with their demands while also urging the authorities for government-backed salaries and allowances.

Earlier, institutions in metropolitan areas required a minimum of 8 decimal land for registration. The revised policy now requires only 3 decimal.

For schools in municipal areas, the requirement has been reduced from 12 decimal to 5 decimal.

But the 30 decimal land requirement remains unchanged for schools outside metropolitan and municipal areas.

In addition, the revised rules now allow institutions to apply for registration if they operate from a 3,000-square-foot building, either owned or rented.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued a gazette notification on Mar 25 announcing these revisions to the Private Primary School Registration Rules 2023.

Masud Akhter Khan, additional secretary of the ministry’s School Branch, told bdnews24.com: “We have relaxed some conditions in line with the demands made by Bangladesh Private Primary Teachers' Association.”

The ministry first introduced the registration requirements in November 2023, as there was no government oversight on Kindergartens offering education at the primary level.

According to the original rules, the management committee of a private school had to include two representatives of the founder or entrepreneur, two guardians’ representatives, one teacher representative, the headmaster of the respective school as member secretary, and the headmaster of the nearest government primary school as a member.

From among all except the teacher representative and the headmaster of the respective school, a president and a vice-president had to be elected.

The revised policy, however, has dropped the provision that included the headmaster of the nearest government primary school as a member of the committee.

M Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Kindergarten School and College Oikya Parishad, said: “We’re pleased that the government has relaxed some of the requirements by amending the rules. We thank the government for this.”

He added, “We now urge the government to establish a separate directorate to oversee kindergartens and ensure at least a minimum level of salary and allowances for teachers.

“We believe the government understands our hardship and will take steps accordingly.

“We’ve also heard that steps are already being taken to form such a directorate.”

According to data from the Directorate of Primary Education, over 114,000 institutions are currently offering education at the primary level across the country.

Among them, 65,567 are government primary schools while more than 49,000 are private primary schools — the majority of which remain unregistered.

As per the Private Primary School Registration Rules, 2023, all kindergartens and private primary schools providing education at the primary level must be registered.

Before registering, these institutions must obtain permission to conduct academic activities.

Depending on the location, these schools must pay a fee of between Tk 2,000 and Tk 5,000 to obtain one year’s permission to operate.

After 11 months and 30 days, they must apply for registration.

The registration fee ranges between Tk 8,000 and Tk 15,000, depending on the institution’s location.

The registration certificate will remain valid for five years. After that, the schools must renew it for another five years by paying half the original fee.

The rules also apply to nursery, kindergarten, preparatory schools, English version schools, and any other educational institutions providing education up to grade five, excluding government primary schools. The fifth grade of lower secondary, secondary, and higher secondary schools is also included.

The policy mandates that each kindergarten or private primary school must employ at least six teachers, who must be recruited through a committee.

The qualification for teachers at these institutions must match that of government primary school teachers. The student-teacher ratio must be maintained at 30:1.

Although teacher qualifications have been outlined, the rules do not specify any salary structure.

The ministry earlier clarified that teachers' salaries would not be the responsibility of the government or any other authority.