In Russia, compensation is being prepared for parents whose children attend private kindergartens, the payments are planned to be the same as in state and municipal institutions. The discount will depend on the childs birth order in the family, and only those who take children to officially accredited kindergartens will receive it. In Irkutsk, where preschool places are especially scarce, this measure could become significant support for families and an incentive to expand the kindergarten network.

The situation with placing children in preschool institutions remains tense in Irkutsk. Parents have to place their children in private kindergartens. The Russian authorities plan to partially compensate parents for the fees for their children’s attendance at non-state kindergartens. Relevant amendments to the Law “On Education” have been adopted by the State Duma in the first reading.
When the law is finally adopted, parents whose children attend private kindergartens will be able to receive compensation on an equal basis with those who use state and municipal kindergartens.
The amount of compensation will be the same as in state institutions: 20 percent for the first child, 50 percent for the second child (even if by that time the first has stopped attending kindergarten), and 70 percent for the third and subsequent children in the family. That is, the more children there are, the cheaper kindergarten services will be for parents.
What amounts are we talking about? As explained by the State Duma Committee on Education, each region has its own average cost of a child attending kindergarten. Compensation will be calculated from this amount. By the way, the money will not be paid out in cash; parents will simply receive a certain discount on payment for private kindergarten services.
In the Irkutsk Region, according to experts’ calculations, keeping a child in kindergarten costs about 2,500 rubles. 20% of this amount as a state compensation to parents is a little more than 450 rubles. Parents whose little ones attend commercial institutions will receive the same amount, only there a child’s stay costs from 12,000 to 18,000 rubles.
But even this small amount of money parents will receive only if they take their child to an officially accredited commercial kindergarten.
In Irkutsk, only 12 institutions have a license to carry out such activities, and if we speak about accreditation, there is only one preschool institution; all the others do not have the relevant license for educational activities.
In the bill proposed by the deputies, 26 million rubles are planned to be allocated from the federal budget for implementing the innovation. And that is for this year. Therefore, if the law is adopted, the first compensations will not have to be waited for long.
“I believe the proposed new norm is very important — it will not only allow families to receive good financial support, but will also be able to give a strong impetus to the development of the network of preschool institutions,” said Galina Karelova, Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes.
According to her, this bill is only the first swallow. The next mandatory step in developing this norm should be an amendment to tax legislation, through which compensation payments for the education and upbringing of children in non-state institutions will be exempt from taxes.