Residents of Gukovo recorded a video message to authorities demanding an end to the closure of kindergartens.

In Gukovo, residents of the Antratsit mine settlement recorded a collective video appeal to the authorities demanding an end to the closure of kindergartens in the city. The Department of Education explained that this is being done to optimize facilities and save money.

Residents of the Antratsit mine settlement in Gukovo, Rostov Oblast, recorded a video appeal demanding that the authorities not close the Rodnichok kindergarten.

A video of the appeal was posted on her VKontakte page on June 8 by Gukovo resident Svetlana Avdeeva.

The footage shows several dozen residents with their children. "We've already resigned ourselves to the fact that we have no roads, no water, but since our kindergartens are being closed, ours is already the ninth," noted one of the village residents.

Although the kindergarten isn't new, it is in good condition and conveniently located, said another local resident. "The kindergarten is warm, very cozy. We don't want another kindergarten," she emphasized.

The woman explained that the kindergartens to which officials are proposing to transfer the children are more than two kilometers away, while "Rodnichok" is located 1.5 kilometers from the part of the village where her family lives. "Not all of our parents have transportation... We ask that the closure of kindergartens in our city stop," she concluded.

If Rodnichok is closed, 33 children who attend it will be deprived of their rights to preschool education, noted another resident.

Children with autism also attend Rodnichok. "Such a child will not go to another kindergarten because he has been used to attending this one since he was very young, the teachers know him, and he has already adapted to them," explained another participant in the video message.

"Please don't deprive your child of kindergarten," she emphasized.

The situation with the closure of kindergartens in Gukovo is causing outrage among local residents. The city previously closed the Young Technicians' Station. Later, authorities planned to close the Rosinka kindergarten, but later abandoned those plans. Now, officials have decided to close Kindergarten No. 6, Rodnichok, Rostovgazeta.ru reported on June 8.

As of 10:35 a.m. Moscow time on June 9, there were no comments on the Gukovo administration website regarding the residents' video appeal demanding an end to the kindergarten closures. However, the administration's website does contain a document explaining why the authorities decided to close Rodnichok.

Gukovo authorities have decided to close Kindergarten No. 6, Rodnichok, to save money. The city has seen a decline in the child population in recent years: its number has decreased by 2,074 over the past three years. Understaffing of preschool educational institutions in Gukovo also remains a pressing issue. The money saved by liquidating Rodnichok is planned to be used to equip other preschools, according to a document published on the website of the Gukovo administration's education department.

"Caucasian Knot" also wrote that several years ago, residents of Gukovo complained about the lack of a kindergarten and first aid station. On December 11, 2022, they held a meeting at which they reported that the kindergarten and first aid station in the Almazny-2 microdistrict have been closed for several years, and local authorities are not addressing the problem.

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