More parents demand that Moldovan authorities reopen pre-school institutions

Chisinau, 1 July /MOLDPRES/ – A group of parents today protested outside the government building and demanded that the authorities reopen the pre-school institutions.  

The participants in the protest meeting were indignant at the fact that the kindergartens remained closed, although most employees returned to work. The parents say they had nobody to leave their children with and this might lead to incidents. The recent cases, when minors fell down from upper floors or died after cupboards had fallen on them, proved that dangers were imminent.   

„We asked the government and the Emergency Public Health Commission to reopen the kindergartens and provide allowances to the parents who have pre-school children. Unfortunately, we have no answer, even if we have had two tragic cases already, when children aged 5 and 6 years died, because they had remained alone at home, without adults’ supervision,’’ a protester said.   

At the same time, the National Centre for Prevention of Abuse against Children (CNPAC) informed that the it expressed concern about the authorities’ intention to resume the work of the pre-school education institutions, as well as about the position of a large number of parents, who demand the opening of kindergartens amid the resumption of the social and economic activities and the need for employees to return to work.  

„The health, safety and security of the child must be a priority both for the authorities and parents. We believe that guarantees should be provided to the families with children of pre-school age, so that the parents’ right to labour and the children’s right to protection are ensured. In this context, we deem as necessary to strengthen the position of state institutions,  through providing of alternatives to the families with children of the pre-school age, so that they manage to conciliate the family life with the professional activities, for the harmonious education and development of the child during the pandemic,’’ reads a press release issued by CNPAC.      

The director of the national Public Health Agency, Nicolae Furtuna, has earlier said that the basic criterion for the reopening of the kindergartens would be the epidemiological situation and the epidemiological parameters which characterize it.