In the absence of a nursery, mothers with small children, who wanted to go back to work, needed to send their small ones under the age of three to the neighbouring towns. With the establishment of a locally available, modern institution, a significant problem was solved in the large village with a population of three thousand people. Mackó Bölcsőde, which has been operating at full capacity since 2021, was implemented from fundings available in the Territorial and Settlement Development Operational Programme during the European Union programming period of 2014-2020.
For years, local mothers with young children have been hoping for a nursery in Nagyigmánd (Komárom-Esztergom County), which has a population of three thousand. For parents returning to work, the lack of access to local nursery care was a serious problem: most of them could only manage the day care of their children under three years old in institutions of neighboring settlements (Komárom, Bábolna, Tata).
Responding to this request, the local government submitted an application in 2016 in the Territorial and Settlement Development Operational Programme, and five years later, the Mackó nursery with 12 places was able to open in Nagyigmánd with EU fundings. This would have been impossible for the small settlements’ municipalities to finance this project entirely alone.
During the programming period, an older building located on a plot owned by the municipality was renovated or expanded within the plot border. During the transformation of the former rental apartment and the construction of a new wing, the administration rooms, the kitchen, service rooms, and moreover, a modern classroom room, where the children are supervised and trained, were completed.
The property has been surrounded by fences from all sides, and part of it has been covered as well, so that the yard, which is equipped with outdoor toys and where children play, is a safe place. In addition, sidewalks were built on the street, and a parking lot with fifteen spaces was also created. It is important that special attention was paid to the project to comply with all environmental and equal opportunity legislation, as well as barrier-free regulations.
The Mackó Nursery in Nagyigmánd opened its doors in February 2021, and nothing proves its success more than the fact that it has been continously operating at full capaticity ever since. In the facility, children are welcomed with excellent equipment and games which improve their skills and development, furthermore a homely environment is provided for them to prepare the children for kindergarten.
The new nursery is also beneficial for parents and relatives, as it operates with longer, flexible opening hours adapted to their working hours, thus contributing to the return of parents to work, increasing domestic employment, and better access to kindergarten care. Among the future plans is that the institution will receive children from several settlements, thus providing regional care.
The program was made possible with EU funding under the TSDOP-1.4.1-15-KO1-2016-00017 project.
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