SYNOPSIS: To renovate current Russian system of education, the country needs a non-state sector of education that is able to initiate innovative solutions and to meet current socioeconomic demands. Several new approaches are suggested and described. They are: “a municipal order,” allowances paid to the families who do not place their children in state preschools, concession, outsourcing in education, quality mini preschools, and a new system of training personnel.

Education has an absolute priority all over the world, remaining a dominant factor in triggering a dynamic development of economy and society in any country. To renovate the Russian system of education which is in transition towards a market economy now, our country needs a non-state sector of education which has equal rights and which is able to initiate innovative solutions, supplementing an official policy of the federal and regional educational authorities and which is also able to meet current socioeconomic demands. Non-state educational institutions in the Russian Federation today form an integral part of the whole system of education and expand the possibilities for all citizens to realize their rights for quality education.

In the present complicated situation activities of a viable non-state sector, integrated into the national system, have become more topical with every passing year. A distinguishing feature of the non-state educational establishments is its innovative and multidimensional nature, implementation of new authorial methods of teaching and character development, availability, flexible and dynamic management, absence of stereotypes and rigid patterns in the educational process. It is also very important to remember that non-state schools and kindergartens are self-financing institutions contributing to the development of the material-technical resources. Such an experience is particularly valuable today when Russia is facing a number of changes in the field of financing education.

Talking about Perm regional educational system, one can say that its main priority is the formation of a competitive market of different educational services. Prikamyie (Perm Region) is well-grounded with its traditions of non-state education. In the second half of the nineteenth century 63% of all educational establishments were private. At the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year there are only 4% of such schools [see: State Statistics (ROSSTAT) for 2009], although many current educational institutions were initially founded as non-state. A sharp decrease in a number of non-state schools and its students has led to the recent poor development of the non-state sector of education. In 1860, 24% of all students in Russia attended non-state educational establishments, and in the 2008-2009 academic year this figure has fallen to 0.5%. The strategic program of the Perm regional development envisages the expansion of the non-state sector of education by 30% in 2011. We can point out several approaches to forming a non-state sector of education. They are as follows:

• Placing a number of municipal preschool educational services in different educational establishments and other organizations of different forms of ownership.
• Starting a pilot project to provide allowances to the families whose children are of preschool age but do not attend preschool.
• Concession.
• Outsourcing in education.
• Creating non-state mini preschools that could become a basis for the development of small- and medium-scale businesses in the sphere of preschool education.
• Training and retraining non-state preschool personnel.

Now we will describe each of the above points.

“Municipal order”

At the end of 2007, 74% of children aged 1 to 6 were provided with different preschool educational services. Traditionally, constructing new preschools solved this problem. After a sharp decrease in the overall number of children attending kindergartens and repurposing the unused kindergarten buildings the way that they can serve other purposes, it has become impractical to build new preschools because of unavailability of public land and the huge capital costs and time involved. In this regard, the “municipal order” for preschool educational services has caused a competition between educational establishments and organizations of any kind of ownership and has created a competitive environment. The “municipal order” is one of the possible ways how public and non-state sector of education can cooperate. Eight preschool educational establishments granted 311 children a chance to become preschool students due to the “municipal order.” This has significantly decreased social tensions caused by the lack of kindergartens. Today the kindergarten “Sozvezdiye” is the major operator for the placement of the “municipal order” in Perm.

One can say that parents and employees have adapted well to the new conditions. This might be an overstatement as not everything went easy, but at the same time all the issues under consideration were solved rapidly which by itself has demonstrated a genuine cooperation between the different spheres of education. However, there are problems hindering the project development. First, it is the absence of the unified norms on how to place children in different types of preschools. As a result, funding non-state educational establishments has decreased. For example, the compensation offered under the municipal order is paid in fewer amounts in comparison with the public kindergartens and depends on the duration of stay. At the same time municipal services should be covered for the whole fiscal year, but non-state establishments receive compensation based on the average attendance at the beginning of each academic year which allows cash flow. There is no specific regulation for non-state preschools considering norms and requirements for rendering their services. This leads to a gap in defining proper conditions for keeping children in non-state preschools.
At this point it is crucial to consider the overall gained experience, to work out flexible regulations that correspond with the current social and economic environment and help creating conditions for their realization.

Pilot allowances’ project for children of preschool age who are not attending preschool educational establishments

Considering the initiative of the Perm Regional Governor and governmental regulations, a pilot allowances’ project for children of preschool age who are not attending preschool educational establishments has been launched. The number of children receiving such allowances has grown to 14,469 in March 2009.

This pilot project permits families to choose between two options: either placing their children in preschools, or raising them at home but with the allowance from the regional government, though children from socially unstable families do not have this possibility. All of them are required to attend preschools or to receive other social pedagogical services. The demand for non-state preschools has seriously increased. Today there exist different services, starting from hotels for children to organizing individual classes with a tutor. One hundred thirty-two consultancy offices have been established. Two thousand one hundred and eighteen parents were consulted.

Six hundred thirty-eight families refused to place their children in preschools that left two hundred sixteen places available for new children in April 2009. Some of them will be offered to children from socially unstable families. It is too early to report results -- the project is still being tested. Though the intermediate results show a positive trend. For example, the waiting list for municipal preschools has decreased to 1,604 places in the pilot project districts. At the same time the project reveals a number of problems. Many parents do not spend allowances on educational services for their children, and as a result their children’s developmental levels are decreasing. At times, in an attempt to find more reasonable services parents address improper suppliers who exist in abundance -- in 2009 more than 100 non-state preschools are functioning without any license and proper accreditation. As a result, licensed non-state preschools have experienced a decrease in demand for their quality services. Developing a conscientious competition between the suppliers of educational services can solve the question under consideration. It is vital to create a solid legal and normative basis, defining the principles of operating of non-state educational establishments.

Concession

Rapid development of preschool educational services has raised a question of handing out municipal property to the privately owned legal entities that have enough experience in rendering educational services. This type of changing owners does not mean changing the purpose of the institution and should be allowed only on a competitive basis. Such a project stipulates partnering businesses with the regional government for the benefit of local education. By means of the concession agreements the regional authorities intend to develop a new form of managing municipal property. This allows turning over municipal assets to businesses without investing municipal budget funds in the reconstruction and remodeling of the buildings. Besides, according to the concession agreement the government preserves its ownership over the property improved by the Investor (Concessionaire). Thus, putting the statement into effect is a way to manage the municipal property more efficiently.

At the beginning of 2009, the authorities held a competition to give into concession two preschool buildings: one active, located in Studencheskaya str. (Motovilikha district), and the other, inactive in the Industrial district. Nine more educational establishments are supposed to be handed out by the end of the year. Such buildings require significant investments for their remodeling and launching. Besides, Russian legislation still has not clearly specified and stipulated guarantees of executing the duties of the authorities for the concession term (25 years). This problem can significantly decrease interest of the non-state sector in such projects.

Outsourcing in education

Giving away non-specific types of activities that are not typical for educational establishments to specialized companies is one of the ways for making labor and financial resources more efficient. For example, Association for Continuous Education “The 21st century” has founded another non-state organization, the “Center for Coordinating Continuous Education”, which renders accounting, legal personnel, cleaning, IT-services, maintenance, transport, and printing to all the association departments for a few years already.

Unfortunately, ours is the only experience in outsourcing as a means of progressive development of educational establishments. As practice shows, the refusal of state or municipal organs to fulfill any types of services at the time of poorly organized competition inevitably raises expenses for such services and decreases its quality. At least this is what the Perm experience shows this year.

Creating non-state mini preschools that could become a basis for the development of small- and medium-scale businesses in the sphere of preschool education

One more means for forming a competitive environment in the field of developing preschool education is creating non-state mini preschools. A variety of approaches for rendering services, good location, small numbers of children in groups have increased the demand in such mini preschools in Perm and Perm Region. This also allows non-state preschool educational establishments to expand and the use of financial cooperation of businesses and state funds in this process.

Today, because of the absence of a normative-legal basis, clear requirements for buildings, sites, and equipment, license and accreditation regulations mini preschools are put into the situation of social and legal risks. Non-state mini preschools located on top floors of tall buildings (floors 5 and up), without their own playgrounds and appropriate technical basis are becoming a hidden menace which can easily diminish trust in the non-state sector of education on the whole in the Perm region. Besides, there is neither a unified normative-legal basis for establishing and managing mini preschools, nor is there control of the quality of their services.

Training of personnel

Numerous problems in the non-state sector of preschool education are not limited by their weak legal status and lack of material resources. “The personnel hunger” is especially experienced by non-state preschools. A new system of teacher’s training, innovative technologies, appropriate reaction to social and economic changes together with flexibility and mobility are necessary to create and keep sound competition. Unfortunately, the existing system of training and improvement of qualifications is oriented towards teachers capable of working within the framework of the traditional approach. On the contrary, the non-state sector of education should constantly improve itself and meet market demands, and it should also provide high quality services. Of course, this is possible only with the people who have a very different attitude to work and a different perception of reality.
In this respect we have found that short-term courses of qualification improvement are very helpful and effective, in part because they are based on the practical experience of the non-state sector employees. Prikamsky Social Institute has started the development and testing of such courses, covering spheres of innovative technologies, methods, and preschool management together with basic principles of the non-state educational pedagogy.

In conclusion, we should repeat that all the primary conditions for creating a non-state educational sector in the Perm Region have been developed. Today, it is experiencing a common “sickness of growth” but the existing positive tendencies can finally bring up the formation of a competitive environment, which will allow every citizen to share equal rights for quality education.