The IssuesAfter the collapse of the Soviet system, many state industries and farms ground to a halt and could not support any more most of existing pre-school services. 70 percent of kindergarten buildings were sold to private companies. Today, the few remaining rural kindergartens face a chronic lack of resources and qualified staff, crumbling buildings and shortages of teaching and educational materials - particularly in the Kyrgyz language. Access to pre-school education has slumped since the beginning of the transition, with less than 20 percent of children under the age of six enrolled in kindergarten, mainly in urban areas. Few pre-school workers benefit from professional training. Those working in community-based and family-based day care centres who don’t have a pre-school educational background have little or no access to knowledge and information on early childhood care and development. There is a need for a special curriculum for training for these workers, which would enable them to carry out their duties in accordance with new national policy and standards on early childhood development. Parents of young children, especially those living in marginalised areas, do not get the support that they once had in raising their children. Lacking information on early childhood care and development, they also lack the necessary skills and may inadvertently use child rearing practices that undermine the child’s health, growth and development. In 2004, the Government began the process of revising national policies linked to a broad range of early childhood development and family support activities. In February 2005, the Concept Paper on Pre-school Education was ratified. The Standards of Pre-school Education, Regulations on Pre-school Education, and other strategic documents were developed. In 2006, the Kyrgyz Republic received 15 million dollars on the Fast Track Initiative to achieve Education for All Goals and 18% was allocated for early childhood development.
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