Liepāja kindergartens start accepting children from stroller age - parents can return to job market right from maternity ward

Liepāja Education Department has decided that one and a half years is too old to start kindergarten, and beginning April 1st, children can be admitted from six months of age. They cite the need to ensure parents' faster return to the job market as justification.

"I'm already thinking about where to place my three-month-old," says Karosta resident Inga. "Maybe next year they'll accept them straight from the maternity hospital? That would be convenient — could go straight to work right after giving birth."

The new requirements stipulate that children must pass an individual readiness test. "If the baby can hold their head up and doesn't cry for more than 14 hours per day, they're ready for preschool education," explains an unnamed official. In Riga, of course, there's no such progressive approach — there children still learn at home until they're one and a half.

Group sizes will also be optimized — up to two years old, 14 children per group, after that 16. "The main thing is having enough space for crawling and crying," comments one of the teachers. During summers, when some children go to Liepāja beach, groups can be combined.

Liepāja once again proves it's the most modern city in Latvia — while in Riga parents are still thinking about kindergarten waiting lists, we're already solving where to put toddlers who can't even talk yet.