Private kindergartens pop up, though few parents can afford them

  • 2012-05-16
  • By Linas Jegelevicius

SCHOOL FUN: Owners says it’s a rewarding experience running a kindergarten, but it’s still risky as a business.

KLAIPEDA -  The difference from last year, when 28 new private kindergartens were established, with the previous 20-year-span of only 7 opening, is huge. Have Lithuanians become richer, spending more money on their childrens’ schooling, showing a more caring and personal side?
Not necessarily.

The reason for this expansion is the pre-school child’s cash allowance, which last year consisted of 2,555 litas (740 euros). In other words, that is how much the state sliced off for kindergarteners: more than 1.3 million litas for over 600 kids in private establishments.
In addition, the Ministry of Education and Science, responding to the pleas to ease stringent procedures for opening private kindergartens, have stepped forward in meeting the requests and allowed establishing pre-schools in resident’s apartments, and stopped demanding the installation of separate entrances, the getting of permission for this kind of activity from the apartment block’s co-habitants, waiving the ‘change of accommodation’ designation and the easing of stringent sanitary norms.

“The legislative changes have turned out to be crucial in promoting private initiatives, both in city and countryside locations, as more and more inhabitants take on the endeavor. That certainly helps tackle the pre-school issues in traditional state pre-school facilities,” says Grazina Seibokiene, head of Pre-school and Primary Nurture Division at the Ministry.
“No doubt, the changes have [increased] the kindergarten output. However, we are seeing it mostly in the largest cities, meanwhile, the provinces are still cautious,” Arturas Mikalajunas, a private kindergarten owner in Vilnius, said to The Baltic Times.

Out of the current 600 kindergartens in the country, 35 are run by private entrepreneurs, but the Ministry expects this number to go up to 50 in 2013.
 
Limited availability of the right premises
However, even with these facilitations, private kindergarten operators struggle to push their way into the reign of the state. This is so even in Vilnius which, with 30 private pre-school facilities, scores the best private kindergarden ratio among other large cities.

Vilma Steponkiene, owner of Nykstuku darzelis (Elves’ Kindergarten), says that, despite the eased conditions, there are still many things to be considered before venturing into this risky and sensitive business.
“At least 2 children’s groups, with 10 kids in each, are necessary to pull it off the first year. I am lucky to have had 3 pre-schooler groups at the start in 2010. As for money, I’d say as much as 100,000 litas is needed to pull through the first year, and be aware of the costs rising for some time at the beginning. The bulk of my investment went for the lease of the premises, toys, furniture, meals and other stuff,” the entrepreneur said. She stresses: “You always have to bear in mind how to edge out the traditional kindergarten nearby.”

She says her income would average 24,000 litas a month, 990 litas per child.
“However, the numbers have to be trimmed, as, with a kid sick and out, we’d reimburse his parents for the unattended days,” Steponkiene noted.
She employs 9 workers: 3 nannies, their 3 assistants, a cleaner, a cook and a director.
“Unlike in some other of these kinds of pre-school facilities, all of my nannies hold a higher education degree. With payment for utility services deducted, believe me, you won’t have much left,” the kindergarten owner says.
The demand for her services, she says, is bigger than the supply, but she has to put off her expansion plans for the future for one reason: there are not enough vacant premises around appropriate for this activity.
“It is very frustrating,” she says.

Nevertheless, she doesn’t regret a single day for having taken on the private entrepreneurship that, though  it doesn’t generate big revenues, but it does bring in a lot of joy and satisfaction.
“I am enjoying my work as I am doing what I’ve desired all my life. It’s very rewarding to see happy parents, who compliment me that their kids feel here in the kindergarten as if at home. Also, I’m happy to see all of those kindergarten supervisors be so friendly – no nagging and no harassing whatsoever,” the businesswoman says.
 
Still many strange regulations
Edita Povilonyte, director of Baltupiu darzelis, a start-up business, sees that competition is constantly growing in the segment. “It’s not a rarity nowadays to hear that some pre-schoolers leave one private kindergarten for another,” she says.

“The hardest part [in starting up] was implementing the strict hygiene requirements, obtaining the hygiene permit and other necessary paperwork. In order to receive the approvals, we had to do a lot of reconstruction of the premises and install a separate laundry room, the required number of washrooms and more.” Povilonyte remembers.
Some of the remaining constraints, she says, are “strange.”
“Like the one prohibiting opening a kindergarten on the second floor, as if 2-year-olds couldn’t crawl up the staircase. Besides, the regulations demand to make sure that children have a separate exit to the outside. Therefore, we had to redo the premises, complying with the requirements. I was the lucky owner of the premises so didn’t mind the redoing,” the entrepreneur says.

She notes that most of the children attending the kindergarten are kids from well-to-do families, as some come from families unable to place their kids in state kindergartens due to their over-crowdedness.
“And there is the special kind of group – kids with special needs, for example, diabetics or having behavioral issues. We are able to address them by assigning a specialist to care for them,” Povilonyte says.
In the business, she says word of mouth plays a crucial role. “This has been proved by several polls,” she says. “And, sure, the nearby pool, offered therapy and some extra services have to be added as advantages of our facility,” she adds.
The entrepreneur doesn’t expect a quick payback to her investment, though.
Augueco Duzginelis has waded into even deeper waters in seeking a niche in the segment – operating an ecological pre-school establishment.

“The hardest thing is making up the dinner menus and finding the right provisions. Consulting dieticians and food technologists and other nutrition specialists takes up a lot of time. In fact, there is a shortage of good nutritional specialists,” Lauciuviene, the kindergarten director, notes.
   
Bigger assistance is needed
The business has been in even more hard times in Kaunas, the second largest Lithuanian city. Rasa Tamasauskaite, owner of a private kindergarten in Kaunas, says the capacity of her school is some 15 children, but after nearly two years in the business, she still has some vacancies.
“The main reason for this is that the majority of Kaunas residents cannot afford paying nearly 900 litas for their children’s kindergarten. Before opening this, I did deep research, as far as the parents’ needs are concerned, and the price came up as issue number one for most of them,” says the owner.

In the beginning she charged parents 1,100 litas per child, but with the state funds allocated for pre-schoolers in private kindergartens as well, she reduced the fee to 880 litas a month. However, it seems that, for most parents, even the reduced fee is too high, compared with 500-600 litas at a state kindergarten.
“Even 200 litas for many cash-strapped parents makes a whole lot of difference,” says the businesswoman.
She advises others thinking of getting into the business to “expect expenses where you wouldn’t, like installing a costly ventilation system or building a kid’s playground, meeting all requirements,” she says.

Svajunas Martisauskas from Kaunas says the biggest problem that most founders of private schooling establishments encounter is a lack of suitable premises. “I spent months looking for the right place and adequate premises before moving in,” Martisauskas acknowledged to The Baltic Times.
Austeja Landsbergiene, a mother of four and holder of a doctorate degree in Educology, before returning to Lithuania and opening several private kindergartens here, has lived for a while in Belgium where her children attended private kindergartens and schools.

“Disregarding the budding efforts in private nurturing, Lithuania has been making just the first strides in the field. Unlike other countries where the state compensates part of the expense occurring in establishing private kindergartens and schools, Lithuania’s recent work in the process is far from substantial. If the assistance were bigger, a lot more people would take on the private education initiative,” Landsbergiene noted.