CHILDREN DESERVE THE BEST

2200 little citizens of the Smolensk region attend 23 modern preschool institutions in Safonovo, where the younger generation can receive a good education. This effective system of upbringing is the final result of many years’ well-directed work mainly funded by the municipal officials, which solved the problem of getting a place in a kindergarten.

The kindergartens remain the public property. Temporarily they used to function exclusively as primary school premises, but as required the buildings were turned into kindergartens again. Since 2001, five preschool institutions have resumed their work, therefore, the number of places rose to 340, and considering the formation of the new groups in the existing ones this number rose to 560 places.

The local authorities demand that the infant schools develop the adjacent territory, renovate the fronts and provide for the proper interior furnishing, equipment for playing grounds and the necessary construction materials being manufactured at the local plants, which considerably economizes the budgetary funds. In 2010, over 6 million rubles was spent on repair work. In the current year, the Safonovo kindergartens have got 2,5 million rubles already.

In 2011, a former nursery school is to be repaired to become an Orthodox kindergarten. The means are coming from the regional and municipal budgets, 10 million rubles and 1 million rubles, respectively.

At present, the main task is not to set up new establishments, but perfect the process of upbringing with the introduction of a compulsory health promotion program. In five kindergartens, there are special swimming pools constructed with the use of advanced technologies at a local plant. A minisauna is available to children of two nursery schools. In the future, all the preschool institutions are to be equipped in the same way.

The municipal officials also pay attention to the needs of the rural population. The Administration of the Smolensk region allocated approximately 2 million rubles from the reserve to form two kindergarten groups for 40 children in the Vadinsk school. Some other settlements are next in turn.

The local authorities are greatly interested in enhancing the prestige of teaching as a profession. The contests ‘Kindergarten of the Year’ and ‘Teacher of the Year’ (since 2010), where one is awarded a pecuniary prize, are annually held in the region.