Poland, many towns
By: Comenius Foundation for Child Development
www.frd.org.pl

How children benefit from a pre-school education in poor rural areas where there have been no kindergartens.

Solution
The Comenius Foundation for Child Development, given a place in a village, organises a special kindergarten for the local three-to-five-year-olds. Children don’t get a sleeping break or meals, but they do get the opportunity spend the time together playing, and learning from the teachers trained by the foundation. Such kindergartens often become village cultural centres, where parents can meet to discuss new activities or events.The goal of the program is to ensure a space and its upkeep, as well as pay for teachers. The foundation provides educational materials, training and co-ordinator consultation once a month. The teachers, many of whom were previously unemployed, receive experience thanks to the training. Parents actively help by renovating the building for the pre-school club, equipping, organising, and making toys (plastic toys are rarely used). Parents have the opportunity to take part in the classes, in which each child participates as they please. The classes take place for 12 to 16 hours a week, in groups of 10-12, divided by age.

Background
Only 14 % of the rural children in Poland are enrolled in pre-school. This is due both to families’ lack of money (there is a high unemployment rate in the country), and the lack of pre-school centres in the nearby area. According to legal statutes, the financial responsibility for education falls to the municipality, which frequently doesn’t have enough funds to finance basic education.The foundation implemented an innovative program called When There Are No Pre-schools which provides equal educational opportunities by opening early childhood education centres in areas where pre-school services have never been offered or have been discontinued.

Current state of development
The Preschool Club goes year-round, with a break for summer. The popularity and accessibility of the scheme is shown by the numerous new centres opening in the local area and in other communities taking part in this programme, as well as the waiting list to take part.Jastków started with four pre-schools, with five groups of children, and now has seven schools with eight groups. A total of 37 preschool clubs have been started up in eight towns. The scheme is very flexible, and can be adapted to suit the needs of any area, which differ in the way they run finance and hire teachers. Teaching methods are continuously adapted, thanks to monthly exchanges of experiences, training etc. The cost of one child is 70 zl. per month – a normal village preschool costs 400 zl. The local authority ensures the space and equipment, as well as teachers’ salaries. The foundation pays for a quality consultant and teaching assistant. Other costs, such as car rental for field trips, are paid by the parents or sponsors. Parents can also contribute to the cost of materials.

The benefits

Society
Thanks to the centre a coalition has been established between the parents and the local government, which gives the residents more confidence and increases their participation in the community life. The location of the centres is also an important factor, for example if they are near a library it encourages the parents to check out books. Spending over a dozen hours a week at the clubs, they can also learn from each other. The parents share responsibilities, such as cleaning and shuttling children. These centres socialise both the children and the parents.

Environment
Plastic toys are generally not used in the clubs, instead the parents make rag dolls, sock hand puppets etc, which are easy to make at home from scraps or other material frequently available. The paints and pulp the children use can be made from organic ingredients such as salt or papier mache.

Economy
The initiative has an effect on the local job market by hiring unemployed teachers and giving library staff additional hours. Making use of free building space, co-operation with parents, development of cultural centres for the area, and low operating costs are just some of the successes of this undertaking.

The quality of the experience
Peace of mind of providing your children with access to the school. Pride in contributing effectively to the education of own children.

Future development possibilities
Developing school services to allow the participation of the parents. Conceive ways of stimulating children’s creativity in inventing and manufacturing the toys.

Authors:
Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland
Ela Tluszcz

A great advantage of this programme is its flexibility, meaning it can be applied to any location. It is incredible that nobody offered any sort of negative comments …