What does the nursery look like that the City Council closed down due to neglect and a lack of shelter?

Yesterday, at a city council meeting, a decision was taken to close nursery school №138 in the Balabanivka neighbourhood of the Korabelny district in Mykolaiv. The Department of Education states that the facility has not been operational since the start of the full-scale war, and that it is impossible to resume teaching there due to its dilapidated condition and the lack of shelter.

NikVesti visited the nursery and inspected its condition.

The nursery building is situated on a spacious site with a well-maintained playground. It is surrounded by greenery, trees, flower beds and well-kept paths. The grounds feature a children’s playground with slides, swings and play structures, as well as a separate boiler room that supplies the building with heating. Overall, the grounds are well-maintained.

Inside, the nursery is equipped for the children’s use: there are two playrooms, two bedrooms and a changing room. The rooms are furnished with the necessary items—wardrobes, beds, tables and chairs. The premises also contain toys, educational materials and children’s books. The sanitary facilities are equipped to meet the children’s needs.

This week, at a meeting of the standing committee on health and social protection, the head of the education department, Hanna Lychko, noted that the nursery is being closed due to the inability to set up a shelter.

«The pre-school is located in a former residential building. At present, there are no pupils there, there is not even the simplest shelter, and in fact there is nowhere to set one up. The facility has a capacity of 26 children; previously there were two groups,» says Hanna Lychko.

The nursery’s director, Liudmyla Andreichenko, has been working here for two months; the previous head resigned for health reasons. According to her, children from Balabanivka are currently attending the nearest nursery, №134.

«I’ve only been working here for two months. At the moment, I’m in charge of two nurseries simultaneously; I’ve taken this one under my wing to ensure the paperwork is kept up to date. Nursery №134 is nearby — it’s the closest one, on the border between Balabanivka and the Korabelnyi district. All the children are currently attending there,» said Liudmyla Andreichenko.

She added that the number of children in the community has fallen significantly, and no requests from parents to close the facility have been received.

«The biggest problem right now is the number of children. Before the war, there were three times as many, but now only a third remain. There have been no complaints from parents, at least not during the time I’ve been working here,» noted the headteacher.

During the city council session, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych assured councillors and the public that the buildings would not be privatised but mothballed, and that they would be kept on minimal heating during the winter.

«There were times when we were looking for premises for nurseries. In 2018 and 2017, we even considered purchasing buildings to use as nurseries. There was a need, there were waiting lists, and the groups were overcrowded. It may well be that the war will end in the near future, people will start returning, and in two or three years there will be children who need to be sent to nursery,» he noted.

Photo report

Why does Mykolaiv want to close three nurseries?

The Mykolaiv Department of Education has initiated a decision to close three nurseries: №104 (a nursery on Torhova Street in the Korabelnyi district), №128 (a nursery-kindergarten at the junction of Mariupolska and Pavlo Skoropadskyi Streets (formerly Admiral Makarov Street)) and No. 138 (a nursery-kindergarten on Oleh Kravets Street in Balabanivka). The official reason is the lack of and impossibility of installing shelters. This means that if the motion is passed at the session, such educational establishments will no longer exist in Mykolaiv, and their total number will decrease.

During the committee meeting, the chair of the education committee, Hanna Nord, stated that it is the institutions themselves that are being proposed for closure, whilst the buildings will remain the property of the city.

And following the closure of the three pre-school educational establishments, initiated by the Mykolaiv Education Department, the Municipal Property Management Department and the City Council will decide how to use them.

What do city councillors think about the closure?

Councillor Olena Kiseliova supported the rationale behind closing the preschools, stating that it is not cost-effective for the city to maintain them. She says that there is a broader issue behind the closure than the fact that they lack shelters and it is impossible to build them there. During the war, the institutions have been idle, but all this time it has been necessary to maintain the buildings and staff.

Councillor Artem Iliuk stated that he could support the legal closure of the three kindergartens, but said he would not support the subsequent privatisation of these buildings.

Tamila Buhaienko, former deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, also commented on the Education Department’s proposal to close the three nurseries. She believes this could lead to a shortage of places in pre-school facilities once the war ends.

Yurii Hranaturov, Mayor of Mykolaiv from 2014 to 2016, stated that the issue of kindergartens is critically important for the city, especially given the changing demographics and the renewed demand for pre-school education. According to him, the situation with kindergartens in Mykolaiv has already gone through various phases on numerous occasions — from a surplus to a shortage of places.

Hanna Remennikova, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, believes that if some kindergartens are closed down and subsequently privatised, the funds generated should be channelled into modernising existing facilities.