- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (2nd R) visits a kindergarten for children with special needs in Moscow on December 17, 2010. (Photo by DMITRY ASTAKHOV/AFP/Getty Images)
MOSCOW, December 17 (KATAKAMI / Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hopes that regional chiefs will give closer attention to the construction and support to kindergartens. He has made a statement at a visit to a kindergarten in Moscow.
“Unfortunately, most of our kindergartens are not so good as yours; your kindergarten is a perfect one in the
design and the equipment,” the president said. “I hope that a presidential visit is primarily a symbol of understanding to the problem of kindergartens and I hope that it is an example for governors,” he added.
Medvedev recalled that a long queue for children to be taken for care in the kindergartens is one of the most pressing problems, about which he stated in his state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly. “I drew attention of the governors to this problem, because it is impossible to deal with this from Moscow,” he noted.
The president asked Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who attended a meeting between the president and the kindergarten personnel, to report about the situation with this problem in the Russian capital.
“Now 20,000 children are queuing for vacant seats in the kindergartens who make about five percent from all children,” the mayor said. “The problem is that these five percent live in highly populated districts, so, many children live particularly in newly built apartment blocks,” he added.
Some 83 kindergartens will be commissioned next year, but, according to the forecast, the queue may get twice longer over the birth rate growth, Sobyanin said.
“On the one hand, it is the problem and, on the other hand, a higher birth rate is what we are seeking for,” the president said.
During the conversation with kindergarten staffers Medvedev asked in detail about the problems they are facing and the types of work in the kindergartens. He gave special thanks to the pedagogues for their work with disabled children. “This sphere is difficult. Our schools do not educate such children frequently, moreover, our kindergartens do not do it either, so, what you are doing is good,” the president underlined. (*)
