Preschool in the United Kingdom

There are many options for preschool in the UK before your child begins formal education at age five. Although childcare is expensive, there is financial support available for parents.

The state school system in the United Kingdom begins at the age of five. But parents can decide to take the opportunity to prepare their children for the education system by attending preschools such as crèches, nurseries, kindergartens or playgroups.

Children can attend any of the preschools from Monday to Friday, most of which will be open from 7 am in the morning through to 6 pm in the evening to allow parents to work a full day. Each day, children will learn about social interaction as well as developing their grasp of language, numbers and colours. For information on childcare in your area, take a look at the British government’s Family Information Service at www.gov.uk/find-family-information-service.

Childcare is undeniably expensive in the UK. The net cost as a percentage of family income is 26.6 per cent. This is the second highest in the OECD after Switzerland. The cost of childcare lies with the parents, although there are government initiatives to help with the outlay. Those initiatives include childcare vouchers, which can be purchased tax free from employers. Depending on the amount you earn per month, you may also be entitled to childcare tax credits. In addition, children aged three and four are entitled to 15 hours of free education for 38 weeks of the year, whether that is at nurseries, playgroups or even with a child minder. Some families may also be entitled to free childcare for two year olds. Companies and charities such as the Day Care Trust (www.daycaretrust.org.uk) offer helpful advice.

Ukraine Preprimary & Primary Education

   

  Preprimary education in Ukraine is included in the state educational system. It is subordinate to the Ministry of Education. The major types of preschool facilities are nursery schools (dytyachi yasla), which take care of infants from six weeks to three years old, and kindergartens (dytyachi sadki), which are intended for children from three to six years of age. Orphans and children without proper parental care are placed in children's homes, boarding kindergartens, and or family-type and sanatorium-type facilities. There are also specialized preschool institutions for children with physical and mental disabilities, as well as other diseases. The length of stay at most of the facilities is nine hours, but there are also institutions, which work on a 24 hour basis. Preschools provide childcare and initial intellectual, physical, and aesthetic education. Special emphasis is made on the preparation of children for primary school. Classes are devoted to the development of speech and elementary numerical skills, singing, dancing, foreign languages, and art. The government encourages the study of the Ukrainian language and culture. Teachers for preschool institutions (vykhovateli) are trained at specialized departments of teacher training schools, institutes, and universities, as well as advanced training and retraining institutes.

The 1980s witnessed the maximum enrollment of children in public preschools. The economic changes of the late 1980s and 1990s deprived preprimary institutions of regular financing, which had been guaranteed by the centralized Soviet state. Fifty-eight percent of all the facilities had previously belonged to particular enterprises, as well as collective and state farms.     The bankruptcy or disastrous financial state of industrial enterprises and collective farms have endangered the existence of the entire network. Other negative factors, which have a profound impact on the state of preprimary education, are the declining birth rate, high infant mortality (15.2 per 1,000 newly born babies; 18.8 in rural areas), and unemployment among parents. Consequently, the number of preschools decreased approximately from 25,000 (with 2,428,000 children) in 1990 to 18,000 (with 1,100,000 children) in 1998. The majority of preschools have been subordinated to the municipal administrative organs, but the local budgets cannot cope with their financing. Many of the surviving facilities are barely able to meet sanitation requirements. The funds are insufficient for the renovation and further development of the institutions. There is a steady tendency towards shifting the burden of financing preprimary facilities from the state to the family. The fees, which used to be symbolic before the 1990s, are growing; many families cannot afford them. Since the state provides a small allowance for 1 non-working parent until the baby reaches the age of 12 months, young mothers usually prefer to stay home with their infants, rather than take them to a nursery.

    The transition to a market economy calls for new approaches and forms of work in preprimary education. In order to balance state financing and family needs, preschools offer a variety of options, including short term stay, seasonal services, and variable cost programs. According to the state statutes and regulations, the fees directly depend on the family income. Children from low income or incomplete families attend preschools free of charge. The emerging non-state institutions offer diverse new services (e.g., aesthetic education, foreign language instruction, and swimming). They are usually expensive and are aimed at well to do families. Complex facilities, school plus kindergarten, are gaining popularity in rural areas. In 1998 Ukraine had 981 such combined institutions.

    The laws on Preschool Education, On Protection of Childhood, and On Approval of the State Standard for Preschool Education aim for the further development of the preprimary network. Amongst others, they set the goal of ensuring the conjunction between the preprimary and primary school curricula. The publications in the journal Doshkilne Vykhovannia (Preschool Education) are specifically devoted to issues that deal with the development of new educational technologies for preprimary institutions.