Chronicles of Turkmenistan has previously reported that in some Ashgabat kindergartens parents were warned that kindergarten fees would be increased from 80 to 150 manats per month.
In kindergarten ?67 it was announced that the fees would go up effective 1 October. As of today tuition fees have remained the same. The parents were informed that the increase in fees was postponed until 1 January 2019.
Let us recall that a year ago the kindergarten fees were increased tenfold � from 8 to 80 manats.
There are three kindergartens offering speech therapy activities in Ashgabat, where the monthly tuition fees have remained at 10 manats. Moreover, these are the only kindergartens which still have groups with Russian as the language of instruction. For this reason such pre-school educational establishments are extremely popular among residents. Due to a big number of those seeking to secure a place, the number of children in kindergarten groups have increased to 50-55 instead of 15. There are fewer children in Turkmen-speaking groups � about 20-25 people.
In case there are no vacancies in Russian groups, parents try to get their children admitted at least to Turkmen-speaking groups to be able to subsequently transfer them to a Russian-speaking group. As a result of a large number of applicants and a limited number of vacancies, the amount of a bribe for placing a child in the kindergarten reached $300-500. It should be emphasized that only dollars are accepted.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan