Lithuanian PM welcomes decision on private kindergartens

Kaunas District Municipality was the first in Lithuania to have decided to compensate LTL 250 (EUR 72) for fees paid by parents.

On Friday, 9 January, the prime minister visited a private kindergarten in Ringaudai, a suburb of Kaunas, attended by 40 children. The monthly fee for its services amounts to nearly LTL 1,000 (EUR 290).

Director of the kindergarten Gitana Mikutytė Palekienė said that the project was implemented with the help of Kaunas District Municipality, parents and the whole community. LTL 1.5 million (EUR 0.43 million) was invested in this modern education facility. EU support constituted LTL 0.7 million (EU 0.2 million) of the amount.

Kaunas district kindergartens cannot accommodate nearly 1,000 children, although 32 pre-school and pre-primary education groups were formed and 640 children were accepted to kindergartens in the last 4 years.

At least 10 new kindergartens must be constructed in order to satisfy the demand. “The municipality is not capable of achieving this alone, hence a partnership with business is another way of solving the problem more rationally,” said Mayor of Kaunas District Valerijus Makūnas.

Kaunas City Municipality will follow the example of the district, while Vilnius city is also considering compensating parents some of the cost for private kindergarten fees.