A Solid Investment is needed in pre-K programs to make a Nation's Education sector more firm!

Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is the first classroom-based learning environment that a child customarily attends in the United States. It begins between the ages of 3-5 depending on the length of the program. It was created to prepare students for a more didactic and academically intensive kindergarten and is the traditional "first" class that school children participate in. Project Head Start was founded in 1965, as the first federally funded pre-kindergarten program. The majority of pre-kindergarten programs have been operated by private organizations for the purpose of socialization and educational benefits since 1922.

{Source: Andrews & Slate (March 2002). "Public & Private Pre-Kindergarten Programs: A Comparison of Student Readiness". Educational Research Quarterly 25 (3): 59.}

Why Pre – K programs are a necessity?

Pre– K programs plays a significant role in shaping up a child. With the amount of pressure and competitiveness a child has to face, right from the beginning, when they have to appear for the interview process in order to get admission in good schools, the contribution of Pre K programs cannot be ignored. Pre – K Programs helps in

• Social development,
• Physical development,
• Emotional development, and
• Cognitive development of a child.

The contribution of Pre – K Programs is recently highlighted by the Alabama School Readiness Alliance Pre-K Task Force when they made a proposal to strengthen and develop the state’s pre-k programs, by requesting the state to make a 10-year, $125 million investment in the program.

Mike Luce, a co-chair of the taskforce, said although education funding has been tight in recent years, more money is beginning to flow into the state’s education trust fund and many lawmakers seem amenable to investing in pre-K. “We’ve got some very strong support in the Legislature to get something done,” he said.

For every $1 invested in pre-K programs the state saves $2 in social costs caused due to ill-prepared students such as custody, welfare payments.

Denise Vincent, a literacy coordinator said that the benefits of Pre – K Programs are many. They are beneficial not only for the child but also helps the parents by providing them the options of childcare and thus providing them the opportunity to continue their work or attend classes.

Pre – K Programs will not only channelise the child’s energy and enthusiasm in the proper direction but will also make them better and quick learners with an creative bent of mind. The early exposure to “building blocks” and answering questions seeing “pictures” i.e. “pictography” helps to develop the child’s visual memory.