Education is one of the main and most problematic areas of government. This is especially true in the preschool sphere. The norm governing such activities in the Russian Federation is the Federal Law “On Education” 273 dated December 29, 2012. In recent years, the law on preschool education has undergone many changes, including amendments to the regulation of the preschool system.
General Provisions
Article 64. of the Federal Law "On Education" states that pre-school education should be aimed at creating conditions for the development of the cultural, physical, intellectual, moral, aesthetic and personal potential of any child, as well as strengthening and maintaining his health. The programs provided for by law require taking into account the individual and age characteristics of children, the use of methods and forms characteristic of preschool children.
For this form of training, no intermediate and final methods for monitoring performance and certification are provided. Legal representatives (parents) have the right to carry out the so-called form of family education for their child. Such an organization, subject to all requirements established by the law on preschool education, has the right to free state support in the form of methodological, psychological, pedagogical, and advisory resources.
Basics of legislation
After the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” was adopted, pre-school education became an independent level of the general system. This fact had a decisive influence on the concept, seriously influenced the organization of preschool education.
Innovations are designed to provide greater accessibility in obtaining the necessary services. Knowing the main features of a normative document that has entered into force will allow many parents to navigate correctly, based on the current law on preschool education.
Changes to the Federal Law address important issues:
- features of admission of children to kindergartens;
- the procedure for the provision of educational services;
- privileges;
- mode of operation of preschool institutions;
- educational programs.
Kindergarten as the first step
Most parents (even those who have recently had a baby or just a baby in their arms) sooner or later face the question of kindergarten. Preschool education, being the first stage of the general educational system, today does not have sufficient resources to provide all the young citizens of the Russian Federation with their place in a preschool institution.
Accessibility of preschool education for many families remains the main unsolved problem. The adopted federal law on preschool education to some extent regulates these issues and aims to reduce the percentage of children not attending kindergarten. For better or worse, everyone decides for himself.
According to the new law on preschool education, every child, regardless of place of residence or registration in the Russian Federation, has the right to receive free preschool education. Currently, parents can identify their baby in the nursery group, starting from 2 months. The issue with nurseries from 1.5 years on a fee basis is being addressed. They are obliged to take a child to kindergarten when they reach the age of three. No educational institution has the right to refuse to accept parents (legal representatives), subject to the availability of free places.
Amendments
The amendments to the federal law on preschool education (changes made in 2017) suggest the regulation of a number of points in the system of preschool education:
- A gradual decrease (by more than 1.5 times) in the number of permanent stay groups in an institution.
- Granting the right to the child to receive free education if the parents chose a group that operates only on an educational basis.
- The emergence of specialized counseling centers, where parents and children are provided with psychological, pedagogical and advisory support.
- Pre-school institutions are given the right (not obligation) to carry out care and supervision of the child within the walls of the institution, as well as to implement the educational function.
- Compensation payments are foreseen.
- In the absence of places, the pre-school institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a child from one and a half to three years or older.
- The legal representatives (parents) of the minor receive the right to send an application for a place in another kindergarten, where there are opportunities.
Rules for registering a child in a preschool institution
First of all, it is necessary to send an application at the place of residence to a special department for the acquisition of preschool institutions. In this form, the educational institution most suitable for the child is indicated. After that, representatives of the commission make an application to the base, and a minor is placed in a queue for a place in the specified garden. It should be borne in mind that the official administrative portal often indicates specific dates and the application form.
Electronic kindergarten application options
For the convenience of citizens when working with government agencies, there is the so-called electronic queue. This type of service can be used by the legal representative of the child. Delivery deadlines are also strictly prescribed on the portal.
For the implementation of an electronic application requires the availability of all necessary documents in electronic form. The rules and features of the online recording are posted on the official pages of the Department of Education in special sections. Here you can not only make a record, but also check your turn.
Conditions for preferential education in a preschool institution
Changes in the latest version of the law on preschool education relate to the provision of places in preschool institutions out of turn to certain categories of people.
- orphans, children left without parental care, guardianship, adopted;
- minors whose parents are injured in the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident;
- children with orphaned parents (or those left without care), whose age is between 18-23 years;
- children of representatives of the prosecutor's office, investigative committee, law enforcement agencies;
- minors with disabled parents, single mothers, from large families;
- children of specialists working in preschool institutions, as well as those with a brother or sister studying at this institution;
- minors whose parents are in the armed forces of the Russian Federation.
Procedure for lack of space in the garden
The latest version of the Law on Preschool Education of the Russian Federation contains revisions that give parents the right to write an additional application for transferring a child to another institution.
In the case when parents are refused admission without the existing regulatory grounds specified in the Federal Law, they have the right to file a complaint with the city administration. The received appeal must be considered without fail, a decision must be made in the appropriate time period established by law.
In case of refusal to accept the application or when the decision is made not in favor of the child, the parents have the right to go to the prosecutor's office or other higher authorities in order to resolve this situation.
State Compensation for Preschool Payments
According to the amendments to Art. 65, in paragraph 5, pre-school education is divided into:
- education provided in the framework of the GEF, provided free of charge;
- services regarding the care and supervision of babies that parents must pay for.
According to the law, parents have the right to receive financial support from the state or compensation for the payment of these services when registering a child in kindergarten. The amount of payments is regulated by legislative acts and the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation.
For the first child, compensation cannot exceed 20%, 50% for the second, 70% for the third and subsequent. The fixed fee is regulated depending on market conditions for a specific period.
Persons entitled to receive state support are strictly defined by the current legislation. These include:
- parents of a minor (mother, father);
- relatives in whose name the power of attorney is framed by the parents;
- legal representatives of the child;
- specialists of guardianship and trusteeship bodies assigned to pupils.
Parental exemption
On the basis of the amendments to Article 65, in paragraph 3 of the law on preschool education of the Russian Federation, privileges or full exemption from fees for preschool education for a certain category of pupils are regulated. Which ones will be considered in the example below.
So, according to the laws of the Russian Federation on pre-school education, fees in state institutions that implement pre-school educational standards should not be charged for the supervision and care of pupils.
This measure applies to parents of children with disabilities, children with tuberculosis intoxication, minors left without parental care, orphans.
This decision is aimed at ensuring the rights and support of vulnerable and socially unprotected layers of the population, the solution of whose problems is given a special place at the state level.
Opportunities for developing commercial gardens
Changes in the law on preschool education directly affect the formation of a system of private educational practice. These opportunities are guaranteed by law by removing certain restrictive measures governing the right to provide educational services.
An increase in the number of non-governmental institutions that are not under state care will make it possible to reduce to some extent the priority in state institutions.
Ensuring the high-quality provision of educational services in accordance with the requirements and norms of the law on the education of preschool institutions, both on the part of municipal institutions and on the part of private kindergartens, will ensure the satisfaction of the needs of preschool children.
The implementation of the tasks will allow many parents to timely engage in social processes in society, go to their previous jobs or gain new knowledge, retrain for a more popular profession.
Amendments Relating to Financial Security
Financial issues relating to the costs of basic preschool educational programs from 01/01/2014 went to the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (as a school system).
Based on Art. 65, paragraph 4 of the Federal Law, for municipal state institutions there are a number of rules regarding financial support:
- It is forbidden to include in the parental contribution expenses for the main educational program or for the maintenance and property needs of the institution.
- Payment for the provision of services aimed at the care and care of children should not exceed the maximum amount established in the framework of regulatory acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and depends on the quality and characteristics of the service provided.
Commercial kindergartens that carry out basic pre-school educational programs under the Federal State Educational Standard are given the right to receive funding for their activities from the budget in the form of subsidies.
New edition of the law
Over the period from 2012 to 2018, the main educational document underwent many transformations and under the influence of critics was repeatedly subjected to reform. These circumstances indicate how acute the problems of education are facing the state, including in the preschool sphere.
The latest version of the law on preschool education of 08/14/2018, as comprehensively and clearly as possible, formulates a solution to many previously unanswered issues. At the same time, guarantees are provided by the state to effectively change the education system as a whole.
In the updated version of the Federal Law "On Education" dated 01.01.2019, which has not yet entered into force, there are no changes regarding the basic laws of preschool education.