Problems at Kindergartens

The dismissed directors of a number of kindergartens have held a protest in front of the Tbilisi City Assembly building.

They were demanding the setting up of a commission from the City Assembly that would study how fair their dismissal was.

They had posters reading: "We will not be silent, we will not stop, we will not let you destroy", "Abolish the punishment agency", etc.

The protest was organized by several non-governmental organizations.

The fact is that dozens of heads of kindergartens have been fired by the relevant agency of Tbilisi City Assembly.

The reason given was that they were not fully qualified for their positions and could not appropriately run the institutions.

It was reported and voiced in the media that under the previous state leadership, many directors of kindergartens were appointed through their close cooperation and affiliation with the previous ruling United National Movement party. As a matter of fact UNM used this as a lever to influence the process of elections. However, without a proper study of the cases it is neither fair nor reasonable for the people to be fired, as this will definitely trigger speculation that the dismissals were politically motivated.

If someone does their job properly, there are surely no grounds to dismiss them.

The relevant bodies must study the qualification of the teachers, especially those working with little children, as primary education is one of the most important chains in a child’s development.

They must also appropriately check if healthy food is distributed to the institutions and the size of the portions given to the kids should be monitored, as a lack of nutritious food could cause a number of health problems.

The qualification of kindergarten teachers also requires studying; re-training, if necessary, must also be organised.

Overall, more transparency in required. If the relevant bodies prove that the kindergarten directors were truly unqualified, there will be no question marks hanging over the issue.