Kindergarten issue: There are still no solutions

The issue of kindergartens remains a problem of the day in Armenia. A great deal of trials is waiting to young mothers who have decided to start working as soon as their child is 2 or 3 years old. Particularly, placement of a child in a kindergarten in the capital is a real heroism, which requires quite strong nerves, a lot of time and sometimes even years of patience, because not always the state pre-school is ready to accept the child, even if the child’s age has elapsed and the child lives in the same yard.

The reasons why the child is not accepted to a kindergarten, if his age has expired and the kindergarten has a proper group, are different. There are several groups in Facebook where parents report their unsuccessful attempt to admit a child to a kindergarten. The initial age starts at 0-3, but today most of our kindergartens start receiving children from the age of 3. Earlier, the number of kindergartens with groups of children is limited and, in essence, is not available to all those who wish. But it is not a fact that a three-year-old child will be accepted at the pre-school.

Many parents are in such situations, reasons why they refuse accept children to a kindergarten, thereby violating the rights of a child or a parent, are different and often not logical. Finally, if the state encourages early return of women with small children to the job market by initiating a variety of programs, it must create appropriate conditions to help the mother solve the problem of child care and focus on her job responsibilities. Meanwhile, only half of the 161 community kindergartens under the subordination of Yerevan municipality have junior groups. In essence, there is a serious contradiction between the policy and real life declared by the state, as it is obvious that the number of kindergartens operating in the republic is insufficient, as well as the state’s efforts to ensure access to pre-school education,

The Republican Party’s pre-electoral program envisaged ensuring the compulsory health insurance of kindergartens under the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Yerevan, ensuring full pre-school education, complete queue regulation in kindergartens and ensuring the continuation of free pre-school education program.

Full text in Armenian