In Irkutsk, kindergarten No. 107 in the Energetikov settlement will open already in July, and by September, after new and renovated facilities open, the kindergarten waiting list should noticeably shrink. During a deputy inspection, they showed how preschool facilities are being updated in the city. The new buildings have modern halls, computer rooms, isolation rooms, and even a dry pool. At the same time, the authorities admit that demand for kindergarten places is still growing, especially in nursery groups in residential districts.

Kindergarten No. 107, located in the Energetikov settlement, will be put into operation as early as July of this year. This was announced by the head of the Department of Education, Valentina Peregudova, during a deputy inspection of kindergartens in the Sverdlovsky District that were commissioned in 2009.
Despite the fact that the kindergarten on Akademicheskaya Street is designed for only 78 children, the Department of Education is eagerly awaiting its opening in order to “relieve” nearby kindergartens that are closing for reconstruction. The kindergarten on Akademicheskaya Street will become the fourth preschool institution opened this year. Irkutsk children are already being accepted by the new kindergartens No. 110 on Profsoyuznaya Street, No. 61 in the Kirov settlement, and No. 124 in Akademgorodok.
The Chairman of the Irkutsk City Duma, Andrey Labygin, began the tour in the Kirov settlement. District deputy Ivan Vinnichenko said that before the construction of the new building, kindergarten No. 61 was located in premises only conditionally adapted for receiving children. The panel building, erected as a temporary structure, served for almost 40 years and, according to Valentina Peregudova, was in an emergency condition. In the new building, with an area of 2.5 thousand square meters and costing about 74 million rubles, the conditions for 220 children meet modern sanitary and educational requirements: separate restrooms for boys and girls, an isolation room for sick children, a gym with a “dry” pool, and a computer classroom. The methods of raising children are based on the recommendations of the developmental program “Childhood,” so when asked by the deputies, the 6-year-olds answered that in the future they would receive higher education and would definitely get an interesting job. Andrey Labygin personally inspected the vegetable storage room and made sure that the products were kept at a temperature of 6 degrees Celsius. The Chairman of the Irkutsk City Duma found only one shortcoming in kindergarten No. 61 — the unfinished construction of access roads. In the near future, in Andrey Labygin’s opinion, this issue will be resolved.
Kindergarten No. 124 was transferred to the city administration by the Irkutsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences. According to Valentina Peregudova, the preschool institutions transferred to the city — No. 124 in Akademgorodok and No. 110 on Profsoyuznaya Street — required major repairs. The city budget allocated about 94 million rubles for the reconstruction of the kindergarten in Akademgorodok, while the kindergarten on Profsoyuznaya Street cost 92 million rubles. After the opening of these two municipal preschool institutions, another 440 little Irkutsk residents were able to attend kindergartens. According to Valentina Peregudova, by September, after the opening of the kindergarten on Akademicheskaya Street and the graduation of the 6-year-olds, the queue for municipal preschool educational institutions in Irkutsk, which currently amounts to about 20 thousand children under 7 years old, will decrease by 6 thousand preschoolers.
Valentina Peregudova noted that due to the rise in birth rates, the municipality’s construction programs are not keeping up with “covering” Irkutsk residents’ needs for kindergartens; however, the Department of Education is making every effort to ensure a place in a municipal kindergarten for parents who are in urgent need of one. The issue is most acute with nursery-age children in residential districts — Universitetsky and Yubileiny.
Valentina Peregudova also reported that 3 kindergartens will be closed for reconstruction this year. First in line was kindergarten No. 127 on 1-aya Sovetskaya Street, for whose repair 24 million rubles will soon be allocated from the city budget. Over the next six months, reconstruction is planned to begin at kindergartens No. 63 and No. 41.
“It is pleasant to see that municipal preschool institutions are being equipped with the latest technology and pedagogical science,” Andrey Labygin summarized the results of the trip. “When repairing and building kindergartens, modern materials are used, and in some rooms even ‘warm’ floors are installed. Of course, the city budget bears significant costs for constructing institutions and equipping them with inventory, toys, and medical rooms. However, I am sure that the children who grow up in such modern conditions will themselves grow up to be modern people.”