Project develops teacher-friendly kindergartens in Ulaanbaatar

A project funded by the Japan Foundation is aiming to make kindergartens in Ulaanbaatar both child-friendly and teacher-friendly. Titled the “Child-Friendly Kindergarten” project, it was initiated in 2011 and aims to enable children to learn in a secure and healthy environment. Currently, 38 kindergartens in four districts have joined the project and aim to become “model kindergartens”. The project team held an open day on 26 September at one of the participating kindergartens, the Fourth Kindergarten of Chinggeltei District, and announced to journalists the positive changes, achievements and results of the past year of activities.

The project manager, Ms. Takako Shibata of Save the Children Japan, explained that “The name of our project is the ‘Child-Friendly Kindergarten’ project, but kindergarten teachers serve under difficult conditions, with regular overload of work. Thus, I want to rename the project the ‘Teacher-Friendly Kindergarten’ project.” The project aims to change the attitude of teachers towards pre-schoolers and improve teaching methods. Also, it enables teachers to improve their knowledge, skills and qualifications. The best part of the project is that every member of staff of the kindergartens, namely, the kindergarten managers, doctors, teachers, assistant teachers, maids and guards have all made their contribution to this change, along with the parents of the children.

A teacher at the Fourth Kindergarten remarked that “Teachers must have an ability to hear and understand the children. Thus our teachers are now able to communicate with each child depending on their special personality, which helps enable the children to look for information themselves independently. Along with developing the children, teachers are bettering themselves too”.

As every classroom now has a library, the kindergartens are now organizing a campaign to enable children take books to their homes. Also, they have held various competitions between the parents of the children, such as “Golden Fall”, “We Can Do It”, “Mom, Dad and I”, which have had a positive response from families.

The representative of the parents, M. Baasandorj, remarked on the changes that, “At first, I thought that this project would finish after just taking some money from us as usual. But this project has absolutely reformed the communication between teachers, parents and children. I have realized that pre-school education is more important than the education given from general education schools. 

Instead of complaining about the poor environment and old equipment, parents should bring a can of paint and fix the fences and playgrounds in the kindergarten premises themselves, along with their children. This will improve the appearance and comfort of the kindergartens greatly. The involvement of parents is vital”.

The doctor of the 104th Kindergarten at Songinokhairkhan District, J. Tsevegmid, explained that he provided medical cards for the pre-schoolers so that the parents will be able to be aware of their children’s health.

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