The Deputy Mayor for Education Pavel Popov and civil associations discussed measures to improve preschool and children’s education | News | Life in Varna

The Deputy Mayor for Education Pavel Popov and representatives of civil associations in Varna discussed measures to improve children’s and preschool education. Organizers of today’s meeting were “Educational Community – Varna”, “Kaleidoscope” Foundation and “Hypophysis” Association. Directors of kindergartens and nurseries, pedagogues, lawyers, psychologists, non-governmental organizations, parent cooperatives, representatives of schools and alternative forms of child education took part in the talk. The focus of the talks was the capacity of groups in kindergartens and nurseries and the mechanisms for admission to them.

I look at these meetings as a discussion between partners who are jointly looking for solutions for the future of our children, stressed Deputy Mayor Pavel Popov. He noted that the normative base on which the budget and financing of kindergartens in the country is based allows directors to enroll more children and creates conditions for the groups to be overcrowded.

We are open to looking for alternatives for children’s education, provided that the Municipality of Varna could not suddenly build 50 kindergartens at once, the deputy mayor also pointed out. According to him, the Municipality will provide up-to-date information on the number of places in children’s and nursery groups and will assist in writing clear rules for receiving compensation for children not accepted into the system. Using the benefits to enroll the children in private kindergartens is also an alternative, Deputy Mayor Popov added.

As a short-term solution, the non-governmental organizations proposed that any child who is not classified in a kindergarten or nursery in the school year 2024/2025 in the area where he lives should be considered unacceptable. This would give families the opportunity to choose whether to enroll their children in an educational institution in another area, or to benefit from the compensation due to them, the organizers explained.

Representatives of the non-governmental sector asked Deputy Mayor Popov for assistance in appointing auxiliary pedagogical staff in the groups with an increased number of children. The opening of preparatory groups to all elementary and primary schools in the territory of the Municipality of Varna was also among the possible measures discussed at the meeting. As a solution, the participants also proposed to prepare a list of buildings with the potential to be rebuilt and adapted for education of children up to 7 years of age.

It was proposed to create an Advisory Council on issues of early childhood education to the Mayor of Varna, search for alternative forms of education and care, disclosure of services for children to companies and universities. Some of the participants in the meeting emphasized the shortcomings in the training of personnel in the field of preschool education and suggested that the municipality engage in negotiations with higher schools to provide more opportunities for real internships to future teachers.

As effective long-term measures, decentralization in children’s education, normative changes regarding the financing of children’s institutions, autonomy in the decisions of municipalities and the search for appropriate local mechanisms in the care of adolescents were indicated.