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Romania Preschool and Kindergarten
The state provided some preschool and child-care
institutions,
including nurseries for children under three and
kindergartens for
children between three and six or seven. In 1955 only 18.6
percent
of children aged three to six were actually enrolled in
kindergarten. That figure increased to 41.9 percent in
1974, but
demand still far exceeded the spaces available. By 1981,
75 percent
of children between three and four years old and 90
percent of
children between five and six were attending kindergarten.
For a
charge of about two dollars per month, full-day care
(including two
meals each day) was provided, and the child was
intellectually and
socially prepared for school. Apparently most parents
concurred
that the principal role in the care and development of
children
between the ages of three and six belonged to state
institutions
and not the family. On the other hand, studies showed that
parents
were much less willing to use nurseries, because they
believed the
quality of care was poor, and they considered care of
children
under three a function of the family.
Data as of July 1989
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