28 April 2004 13:03
Pressure on nurseries, schools as Moscow experiences baby boom
[Presenter] The authorities in Moscow are concerned about a shortage of pre-school establishments connected with the
high birth rate and the fact that many of them have recently been redesignated. Ivan Gayev has more on the problem:
[Correspondent] In the first three months of this year, 25,000 babies were born in Moscow, 2,000 more than in the
same period last year. Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov has already said this means the capital doesn't have enough
nurseries for children who need places and that one in every five city schools has too many pupils.
Luzhkov blames the federal authorities for the situation, including the Federal Agency for Managing Federal Property.
According to Luzhkov, many of the premises intended for nursery schools have been transferred to federal ownership and
have since been redesignated and sold to become warehouses or offices.
Meanwhile, the situation regarding places for children will only get worse. Experts are predicting that birth-rate
figures this year will be the highest for the last 20 years.
[Presenter] Because of this, Yuriy Luzhkov intends to go to the Audit Chamber and, in addition, to ask Prime Minister
Mikhail Fradkov to give the pre-school establishments back to Moscow.
[Ekho Moskvy radio] |
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