In Kyiv, the operating procedures of preschool education institutions during air alerts remain unchanged. As reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the Department of Education and Science of the Kyiv City State Administration, regardless of the level of threat, children and kindergarten staff are required to move to shelter in accordance with the approved response plan. The capital has 525 kindergartens attended by more than 62,000 children, and enrollment in them is carried out automatically through the "SEZ ZDO" system, the city administration reminded.

Alert before the start of the working day: the kindergarten opens only after the all-clear

If an air alert is declared before the start of the working day, the kindergarten opens exclusively after the "Air Alert All-Clear" signal and the arrival of staff at their workplaces. Accordingly, children are accepted only after the all-clear. The Kyiv City Administration emphasizes that during an alert, parents are not recommended to leave a safe place and head to the institution, as this poses a threat to the life of both the adult and the child.

Alert en route: action algorithm for parents

If an air alert catches a family on the way to the kindergarten, parents should first proceed to the nearest shelter. If this is the shelter of the preschool institution itself, parents may go down there on their own together with the child and hand the child over to the responsible staff member. At the same time, kindergarten staff do not leave the shelter to meet parents. Once accepted, the child remains in the shelter together with the other children until the end of the alert.

During the educational process: roll call and supervision

When an alert is declared during lessons, staff orderly escort the children to the shelter, conduct a roll call, and monitor the presence of each child. The Kyiv City Administration also reminded that protective structures on the balance sheet or within the territory of preschool education institutions are used exclusively for participants of the educational process in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Preschool Education."

Contradictory data

The official position of the Kyiv City Administration and some publications in the media differ in their interpretation of one of the points. The Department of Education explicitly states that parents may go down to the kindergarten shelter on their own together with the child and hand the child over to the responsible staff member, while the staff do not come out to meet them. However, a number of outlets (in particular, TSN) presented this rule as a prohibition — "you cannot go to the kindergarten shelter with a child" — which triggered a negative reaction online and a characterization of the rules as "wild." Thus, the difference lies not in the rule itself but in its presentation: officially, the point is that staff do not leave the shelter and do not meet parents, rather than a complete ban on parents going down with their child.

Context: pilot groups for toddlers from 6 months old

In parallel, Kyiv has launched the first groups in kindergartens for children from 6 months old. As part of the pilot project, 9 groups have been created in five districts of the capital; the initiative is intended to help parents return to work earlier. These measures complement the overall package of organizational decisions aimed at ensuring the safety and accessibility of preschool education in conditions of regular air alerts.