About 20 districts in Moldova face shortages of free places in kindergartens. In 2014, 155 communities in the country didn’t have early education institutions. The children there total almost 3,000, almost 2,000 of whom attend kindergartens in other settlement or preparatory groups formed at secondary schools, shows a study of the preschool education system carried out with the assistance of UNICEF, IPN reports.
According to the study, the supply of places at kindergartens cannot meet the continuously increasing demand. In Chisinau, the occupancy rate is 108%, which shows that the groups are overcrowded. Almost 1,400 children are waiting for a place at the nursery school. Most of these are from Chisinau, Anenii Noi and Calarasi.
Bogdan Belciu, the representatives of PriceWaterHouse Coopers that carried out the study, said the enrolment rates in Chisinau are high and the kindergartens and crèches here are overfull, while in other regions of the country the occupancy rates are much lower. The opportunities of enrolment at kindergartens for poor families, which represent 15% of the families in Moldova, seem limited.
The study also shows a reduced level of integration of children with disabilities. The admission rate among these children is of about 40%. “Even those who represent an estimated 75% of the total attend ordinary institutions, not specialized units for children with disabilities,” stated Bogdan Belciu.
The research reveals that most of the preschool education institutions in Moldova need investments in infrastructure, especially those from rural areas. There is a significant shortage of staff and special equipment for the development of children of preschool age, while the educational activities are not adjusted to each age category and do not offer variety to children in their daily schedule.
