Kindergartens adjust parents’ summer plans

Pilot project

Panevėžys budget also adjusts for summer vacation plans. When looking for ways to save, all kindergartens in the city will have a month off. This plan is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Health.

Although the quarantine is not over yet, most of the children have returned to the Panevėžys kindergartens. Since the beginning of March, their attendance has reached 70%. Many parents have already learned when to plan a vacation. This year, due to lack of funds, the practice of recent years is being abandoned, when absolutely all the preschool institutions in the city were open in the summer. Initially, it was planned to leave only a few guard facilities for the summer, as was the case five years ago and even earlier, however, it was decided not to take such drastic measures. All kindergartens will be open in Panevėžys in June, July 14 and August 15.

Aušra Burbienė, specialist from the Panevėžys Municipality Education Department, stated that such a practice, when kindergartens will not open after a month, will be completely new. It is hoped that in this way the institutions can save and at the same time meet the needs of parents.

“The project is ready. Each institution will have one month of leave, some will not be open in July, others in August. During this month, their teachers and service personnel will be able to spend on vacation, and at the same time carry out repair work” said A. Burbienė.

Parents, knowing in which month the kindergarten that their children attended will not work, according to the specialist, can plan a vacation in advance. In this case, when there is no possibility of leaving, the children will be accepted by another kindergarten in the same district.

“The institutions consult each other on how to guarantee the reception of their own children and of another institution. The parents themselves will definitely not have to look for another kindergarten that works,” said A. Burbienė.

Waiting for the ministry position

According to the Department of Education specialist, a parent survey conducted this year showed that in the summer about 50-60 percent of the city’s preschool institutions would like to attend. children, even if the kindergarten they attend does not work. What the real need will be will only become apparent in the summer, as parents often reserve a spot “for the sake of availability.”

“Until now, we are monitoring and analyzing the situation. We take care that each one’s children are accepted by institutions of similar size. This project will not be approved until the Ministry of Health has given an answer on whether it will be allowed not only to merge and reshape groups during the summer, but also merge educational institutions. As we can see, the morbidity situation remains difficult until now, “said A. Burbienė.

According to the specialist in charge of preschool institutions, if the epidemiological situation continued to be threatening and the merger of individual institutions was not allowed, another scenario would be considered.

“We also have option B, but until we know the position of the ministry, we do not want to talk about it. We do not know if we will be able to save, but we will take the position that at least half of the kindergartens work,” said A. Burbienė .

It does not predict the end of the year

Ilona Meilūnienė, specialist from the Department of Strategic Planning and Finance of the municipality of Panev Finanzasžys, said that the budget provides funds for summer work, estimating that in July and August the institutions would work at 50 percent. capacity.

This year there is less money in the budgets of early childhood education institutions than in previous years. This is due to the fact that this year 2 million euros less have been allocated to the state budget for the performance of independent municipal functions. However, preschools, unlike schools, receive funding from various baskets: not only from the city budget, but also from preschool and preschool baskets, parent funds, and other pockets. Therefore, to affirm at the beginning of the year that the institutions will run out of funds would also be a mistake.

According to Audronė Meškauskienė, Head of the Department of Finance and Strategic Planning, it is too early to say that there will be a lack of funds for the salaries of kindergarten employees at the end of the year.

“As much money as was planned last year is not included in this year’s budget. However, kindergarten activities are funded from various sources, and some activities are organized differently this year, so We can’t really say that at the end of the year there will be a lack of money for the institutions, or maybe we can save money, ”said A. Meškauskienė.

The babysitter is a luxury

Some kindergarten parents say such changes have created confusion. Dovilė, who is raising two young children, is surprised that she already has to plan a vacation, although the pandemic situation remains difficult.

“Virtually everyone in our group will attend kindergarten in the summer. If we count the next ones from another kindergarten, not only will it be difficult to manage flows, but hygiene standards will also be exceeded,” says Panevėžys.

Educators have already informed you that kindergarten will be on vacation in July and open in August. According to Dovilė, he still does not know when he will receive the summer holidays. Since the team is not large, they know that there will be no opportunity to vacation for a whole month.

“I will have to take the two children to another kindergarten for at least two weeks, because there are no grandparents and hiring a babysitter is a luxury. There will be a lot of stress for the children. I understand that teachers also need a license, but somehow in previous years they managed to reconcile both the leave of the employees and the needs of the parents ”, the mother is surprised.

You want a vacation

Vera Janikūnienė, director of the Panevėžys Preschool Association and director of the Linelis kindergarten, said that the idea of ​​closing the kindergartens for a month is really good. Summer is a great time to do major repairs while taking your employees’ vacations at the same time.

“Institutions have 11 months to pay their salaries. Teachers are on vacation after 40 days, almost 2 months. Therefore, to spend them on vacation, it is necessary to find a shift, which is an additional cost,” said V. Janikūnienė.

According to the director, although parent surveys show that about half of the children plan to visit the institution in the summer, the actual number of visitors is much lower. Parents, when they write the applications, usually take out insurance, keep in mind that they will be visiting all summer, but often only half of the children remain when they arrive.

“And there were many such cases: 20 children signed up and eight or ten come. I understand that parents may not always be able to plan their vacations either, but now that they know when kindergartens will not work, it will be easier to plan. We hope to be able to move freely in the summer and parents will definitely want to take a vacation with their children. Those who do not have that opportunity will be accepted by other kindergartens, “said V. Janikūnienė.