To help families who have nowhere to leave their young students while their parents work, Marijampolė has become the first municipality in Lithuania where primary school students can also attend school during holidays.
Students will be able to spend the whole day at school, participating in educational activities and going on excursions. Eglė Bendoraitienė, whose son is in the 3rd grade, told LRT that she has no one to look after the boy while she is at work. She added that when there are no grandparents nearby, finding a babysitter becomes a real challenge.
At Šaltinis Progymnasium, about a third of the 300 primary school students already attend extended day groups. The school predicts that the largest number of children will attend school during the autumn and winter holidays in November and February. School principal Asta Kulbokienė said that during the break, there will be excursions, meetings with students from other schools and visits to the cinema, and students will participate in sports competitions and educational events. Museum visits are also planned.
The school currently operates four extended day groups, available from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon, and children who spend more than four hours at school are also fed.
The municipality said that the new system was introduced to provide support to families.
Marijampolė Municipality Administration Head Nerijus Mašalaitis said that it is good if children can spend time in a different environment, with grandparents or siblings, but if a child has to be left at home alone or spends all day in front of screens, the opportunity to go to school allows them to engage in meaningful activities.
Teachers of extended day groups indicated that they usually spend their free time in meetings or training, and are now looking for ways to keep their children busy. One of the teachers said that in theory children should spend their free time at home, but the reality is that parents need support.
Kulbokienė indicated that the workload of teachers will not be greater, and the groups will be organized according to the schedules of the four extended day group teachers, so that no one has to work more than they should.
In Lithuania, the autumn holidays for students will last from the3rd to the 7th of November, and extended day groups will operate in ten schools in Marijampolė. Currently, Marijampolė is the only municipality that offers such a service.
Read the whole article in English here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2714909/when-school-doesn-t-stop-for-the-holidays-marijampole-tries-a-new-way-to-help-families
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