"LOOKING FOR A PLACE IN THE KINDERGARTEN"

If in the old days only a basic set of knowledge was enough when a child went to school, now the future pupil should come more or less prepared. A paradoxical situation is developing in this area: the institutions that can give children basic pre-school education, i.e. kindergartens are often packed and it is difficult to get your child in there.

It's no secret that pre-school education in special institutions (kindergartens) is of great importance for the development of the child. There are many factors of this development: early socialization of the child, the ability to behave in society and to acquire the necessary skills of communication, without which you cannot do in the future, nurturing self-reliance and the ability to cope with oneself and daily needs independently, and perhaps most importantly, obtaining the necessary foundations of education that facilitate the transition to the next level of society - school. In addition, often kindergartens are the only way out for working parents who cannot afford a babysitter during the week. We will not hide that kindergartens are very important both for the child and for his mom and dad. But at the same time, this sphere, like no other, is full of paradoxes, often unpleasant ones.

Kindergarten "difficulties"

Alena Maniyeva wanted to get her three-year-old son into a public kindergarten located close to their home. "I am a tutor, and students come to my house, so it was comfortable for me to send the child to the kindergarten, but at the same time close to home," she says. The director of the kindergarten gave her an unfriendly welcome, immediately saying that there were no places. "Even though I knew that it was not true because I saw that the number of children in the groups was not so great," Alena says. The mother of the three-year-old boy did not give up and made another attempt. Her husband went to negotiate with the kindergarten director. "Only after my husband spoke to the director of the kindergarten, did she agree."

And this is not an isolated case. Many parents, desperate to get their children into kindergartens and tired of hearing the same answer "There are no places", start to look for influential intermediaries. Sometimes it helps.

The monthly payment in state-owned kindergartens is 5 manats. In general, it is not too much and is quite affordable for the majority of the working population forced to get their kids into preschool institutions. But the quota is often violated. Sometimes it's not the worst result: in one of the kindergartens in a dormitory suburb in Baku, you can get quite decent conditions for 20 manats a month, including a full menu, activities with teachers and costumed performances for holidays.

In Baku there are 308 state-owned kindergartens for approximately 26,000 children, but 33,000 children go to kindergartens. Although a group should include 20 children, they often include 40 or more children. The head of the press service of the Baku executive authorities, Nurana Mardanova, (this state agency has been in charge of kindergartens in the capital since October 2012) told R+ that that there are really not enough places in kindergartens, and if parents are faced with cases when they have to pay a slightly inflated monthly fee, they should call the "hot line" (012) 492-94-94.

The lack of kindergartens is observed not only in Baku but also in the regions. Not every parent can afford an expensive private kindergarten, but it is necessary to place the child somewhere. So we have to put up with the high density of children when in a confined area the number of children is often almost twice more than allowed, which affects not only the overall atmosphere. Larger groups are more difficult to manage, and it adversely affects the health of children because viruses and bacteria spread faster in crowded places.

It turns out that the official procedure of placing a child in state-owned kindergartens suggests that you should join the "queue" almost several years in advance. In addition, you must remember that there are preferential groups that include working single parents, the disabled of the 1st and 2nd groups, mothers with many children, as well as foster families, and servicemen's children.

Range of services

The level of educational work in preschool institutions deserves individual comments. Maniyeva says that first they were lucky with the teachers; they were Soviet-trained teachers who faithfully took care of children and strictly complied with the necessary discipline. However, the Russian sector has been closed in a number of kindergartens, which creates difficulties for a number of children. "But for me it was not a problem. I was even glad that my child would learn to speak Azerbaijani before going to school," says Maniyeva, an ethnic Russian.

It is clear that sending a child to the kindergarten for all day, parents should be sure that he will be fed and taken care of. But the condition of some kindergartens is simply abysmal - no refurbishment, bad ventilation, because of which all the smells from the catering department as well as the sanitary unit get into the premises, the lack of heating in winter - all these factors are in fact totally unacceptable for a group of children, if, of course, they are not intended to turn them into ascetic stoics.

In a number of kindergartens the food is also at a very low level. Fortunately, the situation is not the same at all the kindergartens, but the cases where parents have to "chip in" for tea and sugar for the children must be eliminated, of course. In addition, refugees and IDPs often live in state-owned children's homes, which also reduces the already small area of the institutions. And the territory of privatized kindergartens is often leased to shops and other things that have nothing to do with pre-school education.

If in the Soviet era a baby could be given to the state nursery so that his mom could quickly return to work, now there are problems with this: nurseries do not accept children below one year. Also nurseries are "overpopulated": the number of babies is twice the limit.

Private sector

It's clear that the demand for private kindergartens is small. The laws of the market and healthy competition are working here. Your child is treated kindly, entertained, fed delicious and nutritious food, taught to dance, draw and speak English, not to mention the banal reading-writing-counting, but you will have to shell out a tidy sum for this. Private kindergartens charge from 200 to 1,200 manats. On average, the fee at private kindergartens ranges from 350 to 500 manats. Given that for many families it is a whole salary, only the "select few" can afford these kindergartens. Some parents are so outraged when the annual fee at the kindergartens is higher than the annual fee at the most prestigious universities.

Private kindergartens are also different. If the cheapest ones (200-300 manats) provide simpler food and fewer toys, more expensive ones provide better and more diverse food and teach better. The method of teaching is also different - expensive kindergartens use advanced European systems and have psychologists and experts with an individual approach to every child, and of course, they are not available in state institutions.

In addition to full-fledged private kindergartens, there are all sorts of educational centres on the market, where you can send your children for a few hours to attend various courses and for all day. And also there is the practice of kindergartens at home. However, the question of licensing and monitoring by educational authorities and sanitary-epidemiological stations is questionable here.

Findings

What way out of the current situation can be offered? Yes, for the most part, state-run kindergartens are refurbished, and of course, you cannot send your children there during the refurbishment work. And in general there are not enough kindergartens. Private ones are overly expensive and not everyone can afford them.

In European countries, if there is a shortage of places in public institutions and private entities are expensive, the state undertakes the lion's share of payment for the child's stay in the kindergarten, so that all children have the opportunity to receive pre-school education. Maybe we should introduce this practice too?