Education system of Lithuania Kursenai Kindergarten “Buratinas” January 2012 Our day starts with a smile A Comenius multilateral school partnerships

Education according to the pre-school curriculum is optional; For children between 7and16 years is compulsory education; In Lithuania children go to school 5 days a week.

Structure of education system in the kindergartens PRIMARY SCHOOL 6 pre-primary 5 pre-school (kindergarten) 4 3 2 nursery 1 AGE In nursery groups are children between 1 and 3 years (the maximum size of a nursery group is 15 children); In pre-school groups are children from 3 to 5/6 years (max. 20 children); In pre-primary groups or class are children from 5/6 till 7 years (max. 20 children) In every group works two staff (teacher and teacher’s assistant)

More about nursery-kindergartens education Children are admitted into institution that provides preschool curriculum according to the place; Admission is conducted by the school head; Parents can choose sending their child to any State, municipal or private pre-school education institution; A pre-school educational institution organizes the process of education subject to a programme approved by the institution concerned in accordance with the order established by the founder; Pre-school curriculum is provided in cycles starting from September 1 st and finishing on September 1 st of the next year; Given the parents' needs and capacities of the founder, a pre-school instutions work: 3-4, 5-6, 9-10.5, 12 hours a day five days per weeks, and also others working for 24 hours a day (weekly kindergartens); In all groups where educational activities last for more than 4 hours per day, children are provided with facilities for having meals and rest.

Kindergarten fees In state kindergarten education for children is free. Parents only pay for children‘s feeding, and there is a tax for educational means. Kindergarten belongs to the municipality, which determines the amount of money for eating. On decision of our district municipal council, parents pay 6.30 Lt. for food + 0.50 cents for educational means per day. An average pay is 142.8 Lt. per month for one child. If parents have three or more children (the large family), they pay only half of this amount. There is a 50% concession, the other 50% is covered by the municipality. If the family is socially supported, i.e. it receives a social allowance, the municipality covers 100% of the amount for eating (the parents pay nothing). You do not need to pay for day -care if the child does not attend kindergarten due to his/her illness and a week after recovering, during his/her parents' vacation or summer vacation time. The food for children is prepared by the cooks in the kindergarten kitchen. Eating is organized three-four times a day.

Teacher’s salary Salary coefficient for educators is determined by Education and Science Ministry; In kindergarten the average monthly salary of an educator before taxes is (16.67 x122) 1911.74 Lt. (about 553.5 euros); In addition, the educator‘s salary depends on seniority and qualification categories. There are four levels: - an educator, - a senior educator, - a methodologist, - an expert. Headmasters have I qualification category, II or III.

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