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Ten Serbian Municipalities Join the „Kindergarten without Borders” project

Preschool institutions from 10 Serbian municipalities sign a Memorandum of Understanding with UNICEF and municipal authorities to join the “Kindergartens without Borders” project

Belgrade, 3 December 2012 – At a ceremony held in the capital of Belgrade today, 10 preschool institutions from across Serbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNICEF and their respective municipalities and thus officially joined the project “Kindergarten without Borders – More Possibilities for Learning in Early Childhood”. The gathering was addressed by Mr Muhedin Fijuljanin, State Secretary in the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, and Ms Lesley Miller, UNICEF Deputy Representative.

Approximately 44 per cent of children aged 3 – 5.5 in Serbia are encompassed by preschool education. Participation of children in rural areas, children of ethnic minorities, living in poverty or with developmental disabilities is even lower.

The „Kindergarten without Borders“project is part of the wider initiative that supports the efforts for securing universal access to quality preschool education in the country. It is implemented in 10 municipalities with the lowest participation rate in preschool education. Within the project, a number of activities have already been implemented:

additional spaces in the existing kindergartens or municipal facilities have been renovated and equipped, and playgrounds created where possible;
staff in preschool institutions, representatives of municipal authorities, educational and health centres, NGOs and parents have been trained to acquire knowledge and necessary skills for the creation of quality preschool programmes for children
quality three to four hour preschool programmes are being created with the participation of parents and municipal representatives
parents are being empowered to actively participate in the programmes and to initiate activities that are of benefit to both families and local municipalities.

Signing a Memorandum of Understanding

All the programmes are free of charge. Upon the completion of the model programme in 2013, the financing will be taken over by the municipalities who have already been participating with certain financial means in the project implementation.

UNICEF's partner in the realisation of the project is the Centre for Interactive Pedagogy – CIP, with financial support of IKEA and UNICEF Serbia National Ambassador Novak Djokovic.

In order to rationalise the use of the existing resources, a close cooperation has bee4n established with the IMPRESS project within the Ministry which is implemented with the financial support of the European Union.

For more information, please contact
Jadranka Milanovic, UNICEF Communication Officer, Tel. +381 11 3602-100, jmilanovic@unicef.org
Marija Babic, PR in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Tel.
+ 381 11 3616- 357, marija.babic@mpn.gov.rs

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