Fundacja Komeńskiego

Improving Kindergarten

and Pre-primary Education

Accessability in Rural Areas

Experience of Poland,

Monika Rościszewska - WoźniakComenius Foundation

for Child Development

Vilnius 2010

POLAND

Population: 38 125 479

Rural population: 38,7%

Children aged 0-6: 2 527 900

in rural areas: 43%

Unemployment rate: 10,5% (02/08)

(02.2000 14% ; 02.2004 20%)

Fertility rate: 1,348

Female employment rate: 58,3% (12/08)

Education for Young Children in Poland

Preschool Education -financed by local municipalities budgets (90%,) and

parents (10%)

�Children 3-6 age:

�3-5 years old children – not compulsory

�6 years old children – compulsory one year preparation to school

Reform of the educational system:

� 2011 5 years old children – compulsory one year preparation to

school

�2012 6 years old –primary education

Forms:

�Preschool center (8 -10 hours per day, groups of 25 children )

�“other forms of preschool education” – (from12 hours per week, small

group 3-15 children)

ECD in Poland – main problems

�Dramatically low level of participation in preschool education in

Polish rural areas (29% of 3-5 years old)

�Lack of policies for equalizing the educational opportunities for

children from socially and culturally neglected areas

�Lack of partnership between teachers and parents

�Traditional- teacher oriented curriculum for preschool education

�Costs of ECD in rural areas to high- children are disseminated on a

large area

�Traditional kindergarden (10 hours per day)– not suited for rural

municipalities.

To preschools attend:

29% rural children (age 3-5)

and

68% children from towns and cities

Education for Young Children in Poland

Our mission

Comenius Foundation has been established in 2003 to create the

best possible environment for children and to help them

develop:

� self-esteem,

� social skills,

� natural curiosity,

�creativity.

We are particularly concerned with the well-being of children

who have fewer chances of a good start in adult life because

they come from economically and culturally disadvantaged

backgrounds and from small communities.

Comenius Foundation for Child Development

What we do:

To ensure access to high quality early eduaction to all children

�„WhereThere are no Preschools” –new kind of provision,

�„Playgroups” engaging parents and very young children in educationalactivities

�„Invisible Children”pilot program –creating Child and Family Centre(inclusion of social welfare, health, education , child protection service).

To increase the quality of early education in Poland�Comenius Academy, our Training Center -27 trainers, yearly more than1300 teachers trained, �System of quality assurance (standards, mentoring system, internalevaluation)

To increase social participation in educational policy-making

�Local Educational Strategy – 30 local strategies

�Local Partnership for the Developement and Education of YoungChildren

To Iincrease social awareness about the significance of early education � conferences, seminars, publications

Comenius Foundation for Child Development

8

� To improve educational opportunities for children in areas without

pre-schools by introducing alternative high quality educational

settings.

� To develop a new systemic solution – a new form of education for

young children that will be available to all municipalities in Poland.

„Where There Are No Pre-schools” main objectives

9

Where There Are No Pre-schools -organisation

Preschool centers accessible:

� Located in villages, where children live

� Free of charge for parents

�10-15 children per group

Maximum cost-effectiveness

� Centers located in existing buildings,

�Only educational function, no social care

�One teacher, assisted by parent,

�Small amount of hours (12-20 hours a week)

Quality of education

� Quality maintaining and monitoring supplied by

Comenius Foundation.

� Children from Centers perform very well at school

� Children with special needs adapt very well to the Centers

� Developing teachers’ pedagogic skills

� Involving parents in the activities of Centres

� Mobilizing local communities

� Lowering the unemployment rate - 30 % of teachers working in the

Centres were previously unemployed

� From 2008 alternative forms of preschool education included in the Law

on Educaton.

� Alternative forms of preschool education inluded in European Social

Fund prioriities for 2007-2013

Where There Are No Pre-schools -results

Quality system- basic premises

� Only the high quality provision will

equalizing the chances of children

� Everyone is responsible

� Everyone is capable to reflect and to think

about quality,

� Trust!

� Plan of action is implemented together

parents

teacher municipality

Quality - standards

� Philosophy, values and the curriculum

� Interactions in the centers

� Professional teacher

� Cooperation with parents

� Physical environment

� Center – Community collaboration

Quality – vision and the content of education

� The curriculum „Good Start of the Preschooler”- recently awarded

by Ministry of the Education - with the I prize for the best curriculum

for the preschool education,

� System of planning and documenting the teacher work – the

innovative and simply way of recording teaching and learning

processes

Quality -professionalism

� Teacher training – preparatory and in service training –special workshops

fitted to the teachers needs

� Reflective Professional - survey form for teacher with open questions

concerning the pedagogical work - the possibility for the auto-reflection,

auto-evaluation and auto-improvement

� Mentoring – the agreement gained jointly, based on trust, responsibility

for the changes on the teacher side, confidentiality, the process of the

changes: reflection, observation, discussion - action plan,

� Auto-evaluation and improving the quality - mutual responsibility of

teacher, parents and the municipality authorities - grass root evaluation

� Pilot project of Certificating Preschool Centers – 16 rural Preschool

Centers with the Certificate of the Quality .

„Everyone has something to learn and to improve”

„Constant observation, reflection, research –Never ending story”

„We are capable to take care of our Center”

Quality –grassroot internal evaluation

Playgroups for Children and Parents - organisation

Organisation

Mixed age group of children (0-4 years old) assisted by parents

Animator – trained by Comenius Foundation,

Program created together by parents and animators

Meetings 1-2 times per week in existing Preschool centres, village cultural center

Low costs!

Playgroups for Children and Parents - Effects

40 Playgroups in 1 year.

New playgroups in progress – great interest!

Parents engagement!

Raising avarness on the early education

Municipality

� To ensure sustainability of services for young children

� To strengthen the importance of early childhood education and care

intervention

� To develop the local system of social inclusion of disadvantaged

children

Comenius Foundation

� To help rural municipalities work out long term local educational strategies

for young children.

� Trainer as an external moderator (help but not impose solutions),

Local strategies for Young Children - aims

Local strategies for Young Children - Practice democracy

Grass root engagement

Participation, diversity equal importance

� municipality officers, councillors, social affairs centres preschools and

primary schools, local NGOs , parents.

Consultations with inhabitants,

Collecting children’s opinions,

Local strategies for Young Children - Effects

�2005-2009 – Strategies developed in 37 municipalities

�100% of municipalities participating in the workshops worked out a

project of local educational strategy, all of them have been approved by

the Municipality Councils as an official municipality document.

Thanks to strategies:

�easier for municipalities to apply for European Union structural funds.

�more educational services for young children,

�higher social awarness and engagement in different activities for

young children

Today and Tomorrow - Challenges

� Sustainability and dissemination

Policy for equal chances on a country and local level

Recomendations (teacher training, less external control, more autoevaluation

and cooperation,)

� Improving the system

Pilots: Children and Family Center

Law improvement (law for birth-to three, - different forms of the care and

education

� 23.09.2009

It is worthy!

� 20.11.2009

Ania 4 years old

Comenius Foundation for Child Development

tel. (48 22) 881 15 80,

e-mail: mwozniak@frd.org.pl

www.frd.org.pl

Thank you !

Monika Rościszewska - Woźniak