Pilot project
Panevėžys budget also adjusts summer vacation plans. When looking for ways to save, all kindergartens in the city will have one month off. Such a plan is awaiting the approval of the Ministry of Health.
Although the quarantine has not yet ended, most of the children have returned to kindergartens in Panevėžys. Since the beginning of March, their attendance has reached 70%. Many parents have already learned when to plan a vacation. This year, due to the lack of funds, the practice of the last few years is being abandoned, when absolutely all pre-school institutions of the city were open in the summer. It was originally planned to leave only a few on-call facilities during 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, 14 in July and 15 in August.
Panevėžys municipalities Aušra Burbienė, a specialist of the Education Department, stated that such a practice, when kindergartens will not be open after a month, will be completely new. It is hoped that in this way the institutions will be able to make savings and at the same time meet the needs of the parents.
“The project is ready. Each institution will have a month’s leave – some will not be open in July, others – in August. During this month, they will be able to take their teachers and service staff on vacation, and at the same time perform repair work, ”said A. Burbienė.
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Parents, knowing which month the kindergarten attended by their offspring will not work, according to the specialist, can plan a vacation in advance. In this case, when there is no possibility to leave, the children will be accepted by another kindergarten in the same district.
“Institutions consult with each other on how to ensure the reception of children of their own and another institution. Parents themselves will definitely not have to look for another working kindergarten, ”assured A. Burbienė.
Awaiting the position of the ministry
According to the specialist of the Education Department, a survey of parents conducted this year showed that in the summer about 50-60 percent of the city’s pre-school institutions would like to attend. children, even if the kindergarten they attend does not work. What the real need will be will only become clear in the summer, as parents often reserve a place “for the sake of availability”.
“So far, we are monitoring and analyzing the situation. We arrange for each other’s children to be accepted by institutions of similar size. This project will not be approved until Ministry of Health will not provide an answer as to whether it will be allowed not only to merge and reshape groups during the summer, but also to merge educational institutions. As we can see, the morbidity situation remains difficult so far, ”said A. Burbienė.
According to the specialist in charge of pre-school institutions, if the epidemiological situation remained threatening and the merging 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 whether we will be able to save, but we will take a position that at least half of the kindergartens work, ”said A. Burbienė.
It does not predict the end of the year
Ilona Meilūnienė, a specialist of the Strategic Planning and Finance Department of Panevėžys Municipality, stated that the budget provides funds for summer work, estimating that in July and August the institutions would work 50 percent. capacity.
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There is less money in the budgets of pre-school education institutions this year than in previous years. This is due to the fact that this year the state budget has been allocated 2 million euros less for the performance of independent municipal functions. However, pre-schools, unlike schools, receive funding from several baskets: not only from the city budget, but also from pre-school and pre-school baskets, parental funds and other pockets. Therefore, to claim at the beginning of the year that the institutions will run out of funds would also be wrong.
According to Audronė Meškauskienė, Head of the Strategic Planning and Finance Department, 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 planned last year is not provided in the budget this year. However, the activities of kindergartens are financed from several sources, in addition, some activities are organized differently this year, so we really cannot say that at the end of the year there will be a lack of money for the institutions, or maybe they will save money, ”said A. Meškauskienė.
Nanny is a luxury
Some kindergarten parents say such changes have brought confusion. Dovilė, who is raising two young children, is surprised that she already has to plan a vacation, although the pandemic situation remains difficult.
“Our groups children practically everyone will attend the kindergarten in the summer. If we count the next ones from another kindergarten, it will not only be difficult to manage the flows, but also the hygiene norms will be exceeded, ”says Panevėžys.
The educators have already informed her that the kindergarten will be on holiday in July and will be open in August. According to Dovilė, she does not yet know when she will receive summer vacation. Since the team is not large, they know that there will not be an opportunity to vacation for a whole month.
“I will have to take both children to another kindergarten for at least two weeks, because there are no grandparents and hiring a babysitter is too much of a luxury. There will be a lot of stress for the kids. I understand that teachers also need leave, but somehow in previous years they managed to reconcile both the leave of employees and the needs of parents, ”the mother is surprised.
A child with a babysitter
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Want a vacation
Vera Janikūnienė, the head of the Panevėžys Preschool Association and the director of the Linelis kindergarten, said that the idea to close the kindergartens for one month is really good. Summer is a good time for major repairs, and at the same time spend your employees on vacation.
“Institutions have 11 months to pay for their salaries. Teachers are on holiday after 40 days – almost 2 months. Therefore, in order to spend their holidays, it is necessary to look for a shift, which is an additional cost, ”said V. Janikūnienė.
According to the director, although the surveys of parents show that about half of the children plan to visit the institution in the summer, the actual number of visitors is much lower. When writing applications, parents usually take out insurance, noting that they will visit all summer, but often only half of the children are left when they come.
“And there were a lot of such cases – 20 children sign up, and eight or ten come. I understand that parents may not always be able to plan their vacation either, but now that they know when kindergartens will be closed, 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 will not have such an opportunity will be accepted by other kindergartens, ”said V. Janikūnienė.
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