Ahmedabad: Nearly 40,000 pre-primary schools across Gujarat remained closed on Tuesday in protest against new guidelines introduced by the state government regarding registration. School owners and management representatives submitted their demands to the Gujarat government, warning of further protests in Gandhinagar later this month if their concerns are not addressed.

Rajesh Parikh, Ahmedabad zone coordinator of the Gujarat Independent Pre-school Association (Proposed), stated that the association seeks clarity and an extension for complying with the new policy, which mandates registration by February 2025. A key concern is the Building-Use (BU) permission, where conflicting mandates from the education department and municipal authorities have caused confusion.

The state government notified the Policy for Regulation of Non-Grant-in-Aid Private Pre-primary Education Institutes for the State of Gujarat on May 15, 2023, following recommendations from a task force led by the Education Minister. The policy aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, restructuring pre-primary education and requiring existing institutions to register. DeshGujarat