Parents ready to wait several years to obtain place in kindergarten they want

The parents in Chisinau prefer to wait for many months or even several years to get a place for their child at the kindergarten that they choose rather than accepting the existing offers. A waiting list now includes over 5,000 children even if there are 1,200 free places at other kindergartens. “The parents want that their children go to kindergartens located in the center of the city or in the quarters where they live,” the head of the General Division of Education, Youth and Sport Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb told Info-Prim Neo. Some of the parents put their children on waiting lists when they are born so that a place becomes available when the child turns three. Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb stressed that the number of applications for a place in kindergarten is now higher than earlier even if the birth rate remained the same. Fifty groups have been set up additionally during the last three years, but no new kindergarten was opened. Only one kindergarten, No. 37, was repaired in Chisinau. The amounts allocated for repairing the education institutions decrease every year. A sum of 21 million lei was allotted in 2009, while in 2010 the sum was reduced to 13.5 million lei. This money is designed both for kindergartens and for schools. Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb also said that the people ask the authorities of Chisinau to set up creches for children younger than three, but this is not yet possible. The 151 kindergartens working in Chisinau are attended by about 30,800 children.