Save the Children supports the professional development and improvement of Early Childhood Development Centres in Kyrgyzstan

Wednesday 29 July 2015

To promote the development of children, Save the Children has been actively supporting comprehensive improvement of early childhood care at Early Childhood Development centres across Kyrgyzstan. Since 2014, Save the Children, with funding from Save the Children Korea, has been implementing the "Early Childhood Development” project. The goal of the project is to improve access to quality early childhood education by developing the Early Childhood Development Centers (ECD) and supporting preschool education reforms in Kyrgyzstan.

The project has been supporting the development and implementation of 40 small-scale community projects in 40 targeted ECD centers in Osh and Chui Provinces. To lead the development and implementation of these small-scale projects, 40 communities elected members of and established 40 Initiative Groups (IG). Each IG consists of 15-20 individuals including parents, ECD center staff, community members, and representatives of local governing authorities. The IGs help to ensure the sustainability of project results by taking ownership and maintenance responsibility. Save the Children project staff conducted trainings in 40 ECD centers for IGs in March and April, 2015. To prepare the IGs, project staff trained participants on topics of project planning, grant proposal writing, and CRC(Convention on the Rights of the Child) . In total, nearly 1,000 people (654 women and 304 men) attended these trainings. 

One participant, the Head of Village and IG member from Budenovka village, Chui province, described the trainings as intending to inspire community members to take initiative in improving their village. “As far as I understood the idea of Save the Children’s small-scale projects’ trainings are to wake up the sleepy community and give us a push forward so that we realize that we are responsible to make our community better place,” they said. 

Each small-scale project proposal application included a detailed maintenance plan, detailed budget, description and amount of community contribution as cash or in-kind, schedule of implementation, and the names and positions of responsible community members.

Following the training conducted on basic proposal development, IGs developed and submitted 54 project proposals for consideration of funding and implementation. Save the Children project staff selected 40 of the project proposals. The main purpose of all project proposals is to promote child development, to make child-friendly ECD centers, and to mobilize the community. IGs submitted small-scale project proposals related to ECD centre’s significant needs, such as construction and reconstruction of playgrounds, kitchen remodeling, and summer houses. 

Currently, Save the Children is delivering construction materials to implement small-scale community projects to 40 different ECD centers. All small-scale projects will be completed by the end of August, 2015.

ECD Project Officer is monitoring construction delivery process in Alamedin District for the small-scale community project to build a playground.

Parents and ECD teachers are working together to transport bricks in Syrduu Balalyk ECD center in Sokuluk District. These materials will be used in their small community project to accommodate new groups. The title of the small-scale project is "Classroom and bedroom extension for the new groups."

Initiative group members are in the process of unloading construction materials at Shalta ECD center in Sokuluk District. These materials will be used to reconstruct a music hall.