Rustem Khamitov: “We have to solve the problem with the shortage of places in kindergartens”

The problem with the shortage of places in the Republican kindergartens was under discussion in the Republic House on Thursday, July 21. The gathering was headed by the President of Bashkortostan Rustem Khamitov.

“The shortage of free places in the Republican kindergartens is the problem N1 for today. On the beginning of the year the number of unsatisfied applications made up about 70 thousand. More than 19 thousand applications were submitted for the last year and earlier such number was registered for three years” – Rustem Khamitov reported.

According to the President in the course of the previous years the number of places in kindergartens was growing slower than the number of kids. This, within the period between 2008 and 2010 the number of places has increased by 17 thousand, while the number of kids, aged from 1 to 6 years – more than by 30 thousand. This growth is still going on.

In 2010 it was decided to prolong the period of validity for the Republican goal-oriented program “Development of pre-school education system in Republic of Bashkortostan in 2008-2012”. During three years it will be financed in the unprecedented volumes – about nine billion rubles. In 2011 the volume of financing amounts to 2,5 billion rubles and this means permit to open more than 24 thousand new places for children.

But as the President RB explained, it isn’t enough to solve the problem completely.

“If the program proves to be successful, by the end of 2013 195 thousand children can go to kindergartens, but according to our forecasts the number of kids will increase up to 315 thousand and we will again face the same shortage of places at the rate of about 100 thousand” – Rustem Khamitov mentioned.

In his opinion new alternative solutions are necessary now.

“We mustn’t figure just on construction of the new kindergartens at the expense of the Republican budget but have to search for other alternative mechanisms”.

Thus, development of family kindergartens can become such of these new forms. Besides, such form of pre-school education has already recommended itself quite well in the Republic.

Rustem Khamitov called opening of new kindergartens within the frames of private-state partnership one more promising direction.

“Our citizens are ready to solve this problem self-dependently and we have to help them in that” – the President RB stated – “For instance, we can provide them with the apartments. We have to provide private and non-departmental kindergartens with the same comfortable conditions as the municipal ones. We have to understand that a private kindergarten is not just a business but in many respects the social project, which we have to render all-sided assistance to”.

One more problem is low wages among the employees of the pre-school education institutions and low wages lead to low quality of education services.

“At present time the average wage in the kindergartens is just about nine thousand rubles, while the average salaries at schools are 13 thousand”. In opinion of Rustem Khamitov the work of the mentors is the great labor, requiring certain skills and patience, and such job should be paid well.