We have signed the Grant Agreement with the Czech National Agency and our ProChil project is ready to start on the 1st of October 2017!
Why are we doing this?
On the 29. 11. 2014 a new law on the provision of childcare services in the so called children’s group came into effect in the Czech Republic which enables to run facilities providing childcare services for children in the age of 1-3 years. A preschool (also nurseryschool, pre-primary school) used to be a popular concept in the Czech Republic before the Velvet Revolution. The nurseries used to be run as healthcare facilities and children were taking care of by healthcare perosonal – nurses.
Currently the so called children’s groups are designated for children in the age of 1-3 years and are complementary to kindergartens which accept children from the age of 3. There is demand for the services of children’s groups from parents who are willing to return to the labour market soon after the child’s birth. The demand is expected to rise after the new law on state social support comes into effect, which will enable the parents to get the parental benefits in shorter time as it is standard in more developed EU states (Nordic countries, Germany, Austria etc.).
The problem we are facing now is that there is lack of qualified nurses who have competencies and experience needed for taking care of children so young. In the present project we have formed a partnership with partners who already have experience in this field, and we will exchange the know-how and create a new educational programme (including a curriculum and a set or worksheets for nurses-to-be).
What is it about?
The project involves 7 partners from 6 countries who represent preschool facilities, NGOs, University and entreprises. Each of the partners brings special expertise to the project and together they will create the following ouptuts:
1) comparative study of early child care in the partner countries
2) curriculum of a course for future nurses
3) worksheets for the course for future nurses based on the Montessori approach
4) one pilot module for web based learning
The educational programme we will create during the course will contain 10 topics given by the Czech National Qalification Framework and will be completed by two added topics: the Montessori approach and the special approaches for work with children in the age 1-3 years.
The outputs will be disseminated towards educational organizations providing professional VET courses for future nurses and to preschool facilities.
What will happen next?
Well, there are things already happening! We created this website, we are going to create a Facebook page. We exchanged many emails and had a Skype conference. Also, we received the first money from the Czech National Agency – thank you so much!
The next big event will be the kick-off meeting taking place in Prague, Czech Republic, on the 6th and 7th of November 2017.