Kazakhstani Association of preschool organizations proposes to introduce specific requirements for non-standard kindergartens

At the site of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" was held a round table on the problems of private preschool institutions. One of the main items is sanitary rules and norms.

Director of the branch of the Kazakhstani Association of preschool institutions (KAPI) in Taldykorgan Marzhan Akhmedzhanova is sure that Kazakhstani sanitary rules do not meet the requirements of time and atypical private kindergartens, which are opened in the houses of cottage type, and on the ground floors of residential buildings.

It should be noted that the question of amending the sanitary rules was raised repeatedly. The following additions and changes to sanitary rules were introduced: the conceptual term "low-power building, adapted premises", the groups are formed from September this year to September of the following year; children missing for 3 or more days are accepted after examination by the health worker; regime of pre-school organization is developed and agreed with the parent committee and approved by the head of a pre-school organization; eliminate regulations for staffing of groups at preschool institutions, foresee occupancy of preschool institutions at 20% over the design capacity; to include standards for square of a building and economic territory of the site, the equipment requirements for the design of construction, reconstruction, repair, commissioning, water supply, etc .; for pre-school institutions with an incomplete day to provide homemade food in containers, and for a full day to enter into a contract with the catering company.

However, according to the profile association, even those not yet adopted rules will not solve all the problems of pre-school organizations. "KAPI proposes to consider the experience of neighboring countries, in this case Russia, which is delimited sanitary rules and outlined them in three versions: 1) for the typical objects of pre-school education; 2) for pre-school education institutions located in buildings adapted for kindergartens; 3) for the pre-school education, on the ground floor of residential buildings", - she said.

The head of the education department of Astana Kasymhan Sengazyev cited the following statistics: 70-75 children are born in Astana each day, in turn, 80-90 children stand in a queue for a place in kindergarten each day. "This is a very good figure. If we won’t hear the problems that private kindergartens voice, then we will not solve 100 per cent coverage of children within preschool education by 2020", - he said.

"We recently organized a competition for public-private partnership, 10 projects were proposed by the existing standard rules, only 6 of them played. The other four were not interesting for business: they are very expensive, there are between 500 million to 1 billion tenge. This business is not profitable. There are many buildings that are empty. We must to rethink it, to review the types of sanitary standards, so that they are favorable to business. That is, they (the areas for kindergartens) must be cheap, there should be no unnecessary square, then the business will work. So far it is unprofitable for business to invest a billion and to build", - said Sengazyev.

 The head of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Committee on Consumer Protection of the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan Maral Rakhimzhanova also voiced her point of view. "The government now sets the task to ensure the conditions of the children in the 25 square meters ensure eat, sleep and play. And then there arises a question: why children often get sick? Yes, because we have no separate bedrooms. Earlier by technological chain while a child was asleep, the seating area was aired; when a child was playing – a bedroom was aired. (...) In these 25 squares there is furniture: cabinets for toys, utensils (because in the same room they have dinner), there is bedroom furniture in the same place and dining tables, which afterwards turn into drawing tables, then the room is transformed into a dance room. Further reductions – will it benefit anyone?"- wondered the representative of SES.

According to her, today the condition for the presence of a pool in the kindergarten was excluded, space, land plots requirements were eliminated. "Today there is no norm that children's organization must have at least few squares of a territory that has to be planted. We excluded this provision. I understand the problem of Astana - just to hand over the child. 8:00, while mum and dad work, and he has no one to sit with, let him be in any circumstances? I would not call these conditions healthy because a child sleeps and eats in one room", - she said.

Deputy Director of the Department of Small and Medium Business of NCE RK "Atameken" Irina Tyugina urged colleagues to mutual understanding. "Please, hear our colleagues," - she turned to Rakhimzhanova. "They want to divide Ssanitary rules. Let's take into account the realities of today. And they are such that there are are very few exemplary kindergartens. Business does not want to build kindergartens. Legislation was adopted for small business, but a year has passed, and no garden was opened by PPP. It means it is uninteresting, unreal. We say that we need to adapt to the current conditions. Mothers, who need to put a child at least somewhere, must have the right of choice: either into a model garden, or for less money - in the adapted garden, or in a very cheap small kindergarten in the apartment, where there are only 5 children. You must sit down with the Association and think about how to resolve this issue. Because specialized kindergartens will not cover the need for pre-school organizations", - concluded Tyugina.