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Kindergartens Started New School Year with Overcrowded Groups

September 24, 2013
Tamta Tvalavadze

Nino Tlashadze is mother of three-year-old girl, who goes to the 158th Kindergarten in Tbilisi. Having arrived at the kindergarten on September 16, when the new school year started, the mother found a lot of children, confused tutors and absolute chaos there. In the group of her daughter, two tutors had to take care of 42 kids. Parents complain that number of beneficiaries in pre-school educational institutions was increased due to annulled fee and increased birth-rate for the last few years that was not followed by implementation of adequate infrastructural projects and caused problems both in the capital and in the regions.

“As a parent, I was also glad with the annulment of the payment for pre-school education. However, on the other hand I worried that it might negatively impact on the nourishment in the kindergartens and motivation of tutors [assumed reduction of salaries],” Nino Tlashadze said. Overcrowded groups in kindergartens can create problems in the implementation of educational program and in supplying institutions with proper food. Nino Tlashadze said she tried to find out situation about nourishment in the very first days of the school year and learned that two tutors cannot properly control feeding of about 50 kids in the kindergarten. There might be kids, who cannot eat independently at all; or cannot eat well; so they may remain hungry during the day. 

MP Tinatin Khidasheli prepared the draft-law on the annulment of payment in kindergartens. On March 5, 2013 the Parliament of Georgia passed the bill with 89 votes vs 1. As a result of amendments introduced to the Law on Local Self-Government and Law on the Capital of Georgia – Tbilisi, “it is prohibited to set any fee, tariff or other payment for educational and nourishment service in pre-school educational institutions located in the territory of self-government entities.” In addition to that, activities of the kindergartens were further clarified. “Groups for the kids under the age of six are set up in accordance to their age-category; working hours may last 9, 10 and 12 hours; personnel of kindergartens have two days-off and five working days per week; kindergartens shall follow special educational and physical training programs. The program shall be developed in accordance to the age peculiarities of the children for each age-category and shall develop their mental and physical skills as well as functional abilities of the child’s health. Also, in accordance to the amendments, pre-school educational institutions shall be supplied with high-quality drinking water and hot water, central heating and ventilation systems; valuable and diverse nourishment and medical service shall be ensured for beneficiaries.”

For the improvement of administrative and methodological management of kindergartens in Tbilisi, a non-profit, non-commercial legal entity Agency of Tbilisi based Kindergartens was set up. Head of public relation department at the Agency Sofia Khoshtaria said that kindergartens were not ready for the new amendments to the law. “In order to be ready for the new initiative of the parliament, it was necessary to build 25 more kindergartens in the capital. We sent recommendations to relevant commissions but they did not envisage our suggestions,” Khoshtaria said.

There are two age groups in each kindergarten – nursery with no more than 25 beneficiaries in each group and kindergarten with no more than 30 beneficiaries in each group. After the amendments, directors of kindergartens initiated to increase number of beneficiaries in each group with 5 children. Monitoring group of kindergartens studied whether pre-school education institutions had adequate capacity to receive increased number of beneficiaries and as Sofia Khoshtaria said the monitoring showed that kindergartens had enough capacity to receive more beneficiaries. “As for high number of beneficiaries in groups in the beginning of the school year, it is temporary process and throughout the year their number will reduce for different reasons,” Sofia Khoshtaria said.

Representatives of the Agency note that two tutors are enough for the supervision of one group and if something is wrong, it can be caused by poor professionalism of concrete tutors. If parent detects some problems in the kindergartens, they shall notify the Agency about it and they will respond to every problem.

Nino Tlashadze, mother of the beneficiary of the 158th kindergarten said, she had informed the Agency about the extremely high number of beneficiaries in the group of her daughter and consequent problems on September 17 by sending an email to the electronic address indicated on the official website of the Agency but has not received any reply from the Agency yet. 

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