On February 3, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. It is planned that in 2012, 65% of children in rural areas of the Vitebsk region will receive preschool education. This was announced today at the final meeting of the education department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee by its head, Ivan Shchurok, reports BELTA correspondent. In the Vitebsk region, preschool education is available to all categories of the population. 79% of children aged one to six years attend preschool institutions. At the same time, 86% of preschoolers attend urban kindergartens. In rural areas, this figure increased by 2 percentage points in 2011 to 55%. High results were achieved here by Polotsk (83.5%), Shumilino (81%), and Verkhnedvinsk (79%) districts. The smallest number of children receive preschool education in the Chashniksky district - 38%. Insufficient attention is also paid to this issue in Sennensky, Braslavsky, Postavsky, Ushachsky, and Dubrovenny districts. The state social standards in the field of preschool education are being implemented in the region. Thus, the provision of places in preschool institutions for children as of January 1 of the current year was 99%, with the republican indicator being 85%, and all preschool children of senior age are provided with school preparation. In addition, in accordance with parental requests, new forms of preschool education organization are being developed: 254 groups are functioning, attended by 2.1 thousand children in short-stay mode. Additional paid educational services are in demand. In the region, more than 1.7 thousand clubs and studios operate for this purpose, with over 24 thousand pupils involved. At the same time, the head of the education department noted a number of problems that require close attention. In particular, the replacement of worn-out and outdated equipment and the renewal of the play base are urgently needed. It is necessary to improve the qualifications of the staff of preschool institutions: among educators with higher education, only 13% have higher preschool education, and pedagogical workers are not adequately provided with methodological aids. There are 70 vacancies for pedagogical workers in preschool institutions in the region, with the largest number in Vitebsk. It is also necessary to intensify the development of experimental and innovative activities in preschool institutions. In the Vitebsk region, 655 preschool educational institutions operate, with 47.1 thousand children aged one to 7 years being educated in them. -0-