The matter was reported by a Reader in an email to our editorial office:

In connection with a resolution of the Bolesławiec City Council concerning the fees paid by parents for their child’s stay at a kindergarten and the number of free hours, I have a problem.

I took my child to kindergarten and wanted to change the number of hours they stayed there to the five free hours. The headmistress said this was not possible because there was no such group at the kindergarten and because it (as a kindergarten) was a workplace. I understood this to mean that free attendance was not possible because the kindergarten would not earn money.

What is the purpose of the resolution on five free hours of a child’s attendance at kindergarten if, in reality, this is not possible? What is the point of a resolution if nobody respects it? Or perhaps I should ask what can be done to make the headmistress comply with the resolution adopted by the councillors?

Factual explanations

Those providing information have a difficult task. They must explain that parents still have to pay for kindergarten, and in fact pay more, even though five hours are indeed free.

Last year, parents paid approximately PLN 150 for kindergarten, excluding meals; after the increase, they will pay an average of PLN 64 more. In municipal kindergartens, children are guaranteed a nine-hour stay. The municipality pays for the five hours of the preschool education curriculum provided from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Parents pay for the remaining four hours—regardless of whether the child uses them.

“This school year, two new developments came into force,” explains Bolesławiec deputy mayor Kornel Filipowicz. “New provisions of the Education System Act obliged municipalities to do two things: specify the hours during which the curriculum preparing children for school is provided, and set the fees for hours outside the curriculum.”

In the summer, kindergarten fee increases provoked strong emotions. City councillors did not consistently defend parents’ interests. First, under public pressure—we publicized the matter on our website and in the “Istotne Informacje” newspaper—they protested, most loudly the Civic Platform club. Then, at a special City Council session when the increases were put to a vote, none of the Civic Platform councillors appeared.

“We set the hourly rate at PLN 2.56,” says Beata Sulska, head of the Social Affairs Department of the Bolesławiec City Office. “This is a sum calculated on the basis of the current costs of paying kindergarten teachers, assistants, social workers and specialists. Some kindergartens have a speech therapist; we also have a class for children with disabilities who require specialist care. This is the actual cost of a child’s stay at kindergarten. The municipality subsidizes each child—whether in a public or private kindergarten—by PLN 500 per month.”

99% of parents agreed to this system

At the beginning of 2011, a survey was conducted among parents taking their children to kindergarten. They were asked how many hours they wanted to leave their child at kindergarten in the following school year. Only two of the 923 parents surveyed declared that they would leave their child for five hours. Four opted for seven hours. The rest signed up for nine hours.

“Based on the surveys—in other words, parents’ demand for a nine-hour stay—we created the entire service and employment system,” says Beata Sulska. “It cannot be changed during the school year.”

So where do the parents who want to leave their child for fewer than nine hours this year come from? Perhaps nobody clearly told parents that they could choose a free five-hour stay at kindergarten and would only have to pay for meals?

“We want to respond to parents’ needs,” says Sulska. “Next school year, we may plan to introduce five-hour groups, but this will involve dismissing kindergarten employees.”

The possibility of sending a child to kindergarten for five free hours is extremely tempting. For now, it only misleads us, and we cannot take advantage of it. Next year, when all six-year-olds are required to start school and kindergartens become emptier, changing the system may benefit parents.

(information: Grażyna Hanaf)