The Karnataka government has mandated that new preschools in the state must register with the Department of School Education & Literacy to be able to run further operations.

In a circular issued on Tuesday, the Department of School Education has asked all schools to register. So far, no such rule was in place for preschools.  

This is based on a circular that goes back to 2018 which included discussions on registering and authorising the functioning of preschools and nurseries in the state. 

“The school management bodies have been allowed to submit proposals for pre-primary school registration online, seeking permission to start only new private unaided pre-primary schools. The department has allowed the school management bodies to apply for SATS registration online at https://schooleducation.karnataka.gov.in. The online software that has been in place since 2017 is no longer available. Schools have been advised to apply and get registered through the newly developed software on the SATS portal with immediate effect. Since pre-primary education is non-formal education, application submission has been allowed all days of the year,” the circular read.

Effectively, classes cannot be started in preschools unless permission is granted. Welcoming this, D Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said that this has been a long-standing demand.

Applicants will be charged a fee of Rs 15,000 and the registrations can be made under Karnataka Societies Registration Act. These preschools will be mandated to have classrooms that are at least 18*20 ft. each and must provide an area of one square metre per student.