Moscow adopts the experience of corporate kindergartens

The government of Moscow continues constructing new kindergartens; about a hundred new pre-school educational establishments were constructed annually in Moscow before the crisis, 45 new buildings are to be commissioned in 2010 and the total of 214 kindergartens are planned to be constructed in 2011—2012. A serious impulse for the development of the Moscow pre-school education gave the I World UNESCO Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education held in the capital city of Russia. At present 17 UNESCO resource centers are working in Moscow within the framework of the programme “Moscow education: from toddlers to High School”. This centers strive hard to work out new forms of pre-school education, they organize and conduct diverse seminars, round tables and conferences to enable the interested teachers to share their professional experience and to get acquitted with the best educational practices presented by UNESCO resource centers.

Since 2000 Moscow is experiencing an increase in the birth rate and it means that the there will never be too many pre-school educational establishments. Taking into account the world’s experience the Government of the City of Moscow initiates new solutions to this problem. Much work has been done to create pre-school educational establishments of a new type — these are groups of short day care, lekoteka, play support centers where parents, including those who do not want or cannot take their children in a regular kindergarten, receive an opportunity to socially adapt their children by not depriving them of the playmates’ company.

Another innovative form of pre-school education, which is a corporate kindergarten, may soon be adopted in organizations and enterprises of Moscow. While visiting the building of UNESCO in Paris representatives of the Russian delegation were surprised to see children in the official office center. It turned out that there is a corporate kindergarten in the building — a form of pre-school education where children can stay in the same building with their working parents. Such a kindergarten became an example for the Moscow City Education Department which at once started implementing this idea in Moscow. According to the plan of the Department corporate kindergartens, partially financed by the city budged, will be created in large office buildings, trade centers.

Most progressive organizations have long ago created their own special children’s rooms where the employees may for a time leave their children, but it was only a private initiative. Now private-state cooperation will be established in this sphere. It is suggested to create corporate kindergartens as branches of state owned pre-school educational establishments included in the system of the Moscow City Education Department to support working parents and make pre-school education accessible. According to the data submitted by the Department 20% out of the 74 large companies questioned in Moscow are interested in the creation of a corporate kindergarten. Such a kindergarten is designed for not less than 10 children with the condition of having two teachers and a principal for every 15 kids. According to the project an organization is free to hire additional personnel and introduce educational and health-improving programmes, which are to be financed by the organization.

But the idea of creation of corporate kindergartens was preceded by the appearance of home kindergartens organized in ordinary flats. Almost every parent may open such a pre-school establishment at home. But there is one important condition to be fulfilled that is the completion of retraining and career development courses at the Moscow Institute of Open Education. Besides the premises must meet the sanitary requirements, first of all in respect of the size of the flat which must have a classroom, a dining room and individual sleeping places for every child. The fulfillment of the requirements is inspected by a committee from the Moscow City Education Department. A home kindergarten shall necessarily be attached to a state kindergarten and become its branch while the mother (or the father) shall receive an official position of a teacher. Such a teacher has no right to combine the job with any other. The children will be accepted with the age difference of not more than 1—2 years.

Home kindergarten teachers shall coordinate the children study programme with the establishment to which they are attached. Thus a child may go through the same developmental stages as in an ordinary kindergarten. With that lessons in a home kindergarten may be conducted both at home and in the building of the main establishment. For example when there is a swimming pool in the main kindergarten the children from the home kindergarten may also visit it. At present there are about 300 home kindergartens operating in Moscow.

The outdated forms of pre-school education retreat in the past. There is no wonder according to Olga Larionova, the Head of the Moscow City Education Department, who says that the composition of the kindergarten teachers and managers has changed considerably during the last years. If some ten years ago kindergarten managers had secondary education and their work was organized at the nowadays outdated level, at present 97% of pre-school educational facilities principals are people with higher education, some have doctor’s degree. This fact certainly raises the quality of the work.