NEW KINDERGARTEN OPENED IN SMEDEREVO

The new kindergarten of the “Nasa radost” preschool institution, providing 300 new places for children, was officially opened on December 8, 2023, in the Radinac settlement in the presence of Minister prof. dr Slavica DJukic Dejanovic and the president of the temporary authority of the city of Smederevo, Jasmina Vojinovic.

The construction and equipping of the new 1,600 m2 kindergarten were financed by the Ministry of Education with the support of the World Bank through the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care” with 198.7 million dinars.

Minister of Education Slavica DJukic Dejanovic pointed out that the opening of another new kindergarten confirms that dedicated work is being done to create conditions for greater inclusion of children in the system of preschool upbringing and education. She also emphasized that the Ministry of Education pays special attention to the inclusion of children from vulnerable social groups.

“In Smederevo, 120 children from sensitive social groups, predominantly of Roma nationality, are included in the system of preschool education and care, while the number of such children in Serbia is about 4,000,” stated DJukic Dejanovic. She explained that the city of Smederevo received grants of 6 million dinars for these activities aimed at better integrating families and children of the Roma population into the preschool education system.

These funds were utilized to form three groups working with children in the settlements of Vranovo, Osipaonica and Papazovac. A vehicle was provided to transport children from distant places, along with a mobile team and IT equipment for workshops. Two rooms for working with children were renovated, furniture and didactic material were purchased, two groups were formed to work with parents, and professional support was provided by speech therapists and special education teachers. Additionally, professional training was provided for 31 teachers.

Jasmina Vojinovic, president of the temporary governing body of the city of Smederevo, highlighted that with the opening of this facility in Radinac, the so-called “waiting lists” have been reduced to a minimum, as the new kindergarten has a capacity of about 300 children. “In this way, the local self-government provides support for parenting and wants to contribute to the improvement of the future demographic image of Smederevo.”

“The newly opened kindergarten welcomes not only children from Radinac but also children from the surrounding villages of Mihajlovac, Vrbovac, Lipe, Vranovo, as well as parts of the city,” said Vojinovic.

She mentioned that the completion of the kindergarten in Skobalje and the opening of the kindergarten in Drugovac are planned for the next period, which will enable even greater coverage of children.

The construction of new facilities and investment in the quality of preschool education and training are part of the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care,” which the Ministry of Education is implementing with the support of the World Bank, in cooperation with local governments. An important area of the program is the inclusion of children from vulnerable social groups in the system of preschool education from the earliest age. This project will cover 23 facilities in 22 local governments, providing 11,000 new places for children, and more than 25,000 educators have undergone training and mentoring support. The total value of the project is 47 million euros.

You can see the photos here.