In Irkutsk, it was possible to arrange additional enrollment for nearly two thousand children in kindergartens thanks to room conversion, group consolidation, and short stay mode. The city also continues a large scale program of preschool construction, three new kindergartens will open this year, and 17 more buildings are planned by 2017.

At an off-site briefing held at kindergarten No. 83, this was announced by Valentina Peregudova, head of the education department of the Irkutsk city administration.
An additional intake of two thousand children became possible thanks to a whole set of measures taken by the Irkutsk city administration.
First of all, kindergartens had to be made more compact: additional rooms, playrooms, winter gardens, and 60 gymnasiums (where groups had already been located before) were converted into group rooms. 700 parents took advantage of the offer to place their children in a short-stay arrangement (until lunchtime).
Specialized groups were also made more compact. For example, at kindergarten No. 83 there were 2 speech therapy groups of 10 children each. They were turned into mixed groups, and the additional intake amounted to 20 children. Also, a new group at this kindergarten will accept children in additional space where a winter garden had previously been located. In total, instead of 70 graduates, 104 children will come to this kindergarten No. 83, said headmistress Nadezhda Dolgikh.
At the initiative of the city mayor Viktor Kondrashov, a comprehensive program for the construction of kindergartens was developed and adopted in Irkutsk in 2012.
“Under this program, three new kindergartens will already accept children this year. These are kindergarten No. 175 on Baumana St., No. 95 on Michurina St. in the Leninsky District, and kindergarten No. 31 on Pisareva St. in the Pravoberezhny District,” the head of the department noted. “Construction of three more has begun. In total, under the program, 17 buildings for preschool institutions are planned to be built in the city by 2017. In addition, this year we returned 2 buildings to the preschool system, where kindergartens will be located, and also accepted three premises of the Ministry of Defense into municipal ownership.”
Thanks to these measures, children aged 5 and 6 are fully provided with kindergarten places, 4-year-old children are covered by 80%, children who have reached 3 years of age by 50%, and 2-year-olds by 30%.
For the youngest children, as in the previous year, 500 places are provided. An additional 200 toddlers will attend short-stay groups, and children under 2 are also being placed in already formed mixed-age groups. As Valentina Peregudova said, this year, thanks to additional premises, short-stay groups for children will also be formed, where children will be able to stay “before or after lunch.”
Based on materials from the press service of the Irkutsk city administration