Kindergartens finally get standards in tune with contemporary life

For almost 3 years everyone who cares about pre-school education has been eagerly awaiting the release of updated National Health Standards and Regulations (Державних санітарних норм та правил: «Влаштування, обладнання, утримання дошкільних навчальних закладів та організації життєдіяльності дітей»), (Coverage, Equipment, and Support for pre-school education and the raising of children), first adopted in 2013. This document caused negative reaction from society with its prescribed rules and regulations for kindergartens and their employees, seen as being too strict.

And finally, by order of the Ministry of Health, there has been approved a new version of the document, whose name has also been changed to a more liberal, user-friendly, "Health Regulations for Pre-schools."

"The standard has become more in tune with modern life, more liberal, yet has retained all the key requirements for ensuring proper conditions for the development and the upbringing of children. The principal regulations relating to child health and a sanitary-epidemiological status have remained but been updated. The document gives the green light to especially the development of a network of private kindergartens that over time will provide a positive impact on the entire system of preschool education ", said Tamara Panasyuk, Head of the Department of Preschool Education at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The current public discussion document took into account most of the suggestions of the Ukrainian Association of Early Childhood Education Staff.

"Our next step will be to simplify the procedure of licensing educational services for preschool education", added Tamara Panasyuk.

In Ukraine there are 15,315 employees in preschool education, with almost 90 thousand children on the waiting list for admission. Therefore, the Ministry of Education priority is to create favourable conditions for expanding the network of public preschools and the emergence of private or corporate kindergartens.