Pre-schoolers will travel from nurseries to schools, this is what the members of the Alytus City Municipal Council decided at a meeting on the last Thursday of March.
With 19 members of the council voting in favor, 6 against and 1 abstention, the decision was approved by the majority of votes, according to which the number of pre-school education groups in nurseries-kindergartens, kindergartens and general education schools was determined from September 1, 2024.
It is planned that for the 2024-2025 academic year, 19 pre-school education groups will be formed in the nurseries-kindergartens and schools-kindergartens of the city of Alytus, and 15 pre-school education groups will be formed in general education schools.
According to the council’s decision, preschool education groups will not be formed in the nursery-kindergarten “Nykštukas” and the primary school “Sakalėlis”. One of the two pre-school education groups will be transferred from the “Pasaka”, “Saulutė”, “Obelėlė”, “Linelis” and “Putinėlis” nurseries. Two groups out of three will be transferred from “Vyturėlis” and “Boružėlė” nurseries.
In turn, additional groups of pre-schoolers will be formed in Piliakalnis, Likiškėliau, Panemune and Volungė pro-gymnasiums.
The decision to transfer groups of preschoolers to schools was made without taking into account the requests of the parents of children attending the “Obelėlė” and “Linelis” nurseries not to reduce the number of groups of preschoolers in these educational institutions (on the grounds that their right to choose which educational institution to send their children to would be violated ) or to postpone the decision of this issue, than to the comments made by the opposition.
Some representatives of the opposition wondered why the institutions themselves are not given the opportunity to choose – those who want to switch to schools from September, and those who have not yet decided to wait, if the reform is planned to be implemented gradually. Others even saw discrimination, because in some educational institutions groups of pre-school children are reduced, while in others they are not touched. For others, the urgency was incomprehensible and there was a fear that children transferred to pro-gymnasiums would end up in a toxic environment, threatened by growing violence and the use of narcotic and psychotropic substances.
Meanwhile, Loreta Šernienė, head of the Education and Sports Department of the Alytus City Municipality administration, said that there is no rush, preparations for the changes have already started much earlier. In addition, preschool children who have moved to schools will receive integrated education, children will learn in separate buildings, where the spaces will be adapted for both education and recreation. Preschoolers will be able to attend extended day groups, choose groups they like, and what is very important – the quality of education will improve. “All schools where pre-school education groups will be formed have hygiene passports for pre-school and pre-school education”, emphasized L. Šernienė. According to the head of the education and sports department, one of the reasons for the resistance to the formation of pre-school groups in schools is the fear of change.
#preschoolers #travel #schools
– 2024-04-04 14:11:58
