Skopje, 3 October 2023 (MIA) - The Government decided to allocate financial resources for Children's Week, which is realized with the aim of affirming the rights and protection of children, PM Dimitar Kovachevski said Tuesday while visiting local preschool centre to mark Children's Week.

For the occasion, as Kovachevski noted, every year, the first week of October is dedicated to children.

“Every day and every week of the year, we should be guided by the principles of protecting the rights and interests of children, as foreseen by the Law on the Protection of Children, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the entire domestic and international regulation concerning their rights,” Kovachevski said.

Kovachevski said that during the Children's Week, which runs from October 2 to 9, it is planned to allocate funds from sale of tickets to theatre, cinema, art exhibitions and cultural events, from the sale of stamps, train, bus and plane tickets as well as from every sold form of electronic music and video recording, will be used for activities dedicated to children.

“We are here together with children to raise the level of awareness about their rights and how important it is to create a favourable climate where they can develop into independent and strong individuals,” he said.

Kovachevski also referred to the Government's investment in child protection, emphasizing that from 2017 until now, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, a total of 81 preschool centres and 12 centres for early childhood development have been built and reconstructed with budget funds.

“Through the programme for encouraging the consumption of fresh fruits for 2023, every child in every preschool centre nationwide receives 1kg of fresh fruit per week. We ensured a continuous increase in the wages of educators, whose income from 2017 to date has increased by 81 percent, while the increase for caregivers is 89 percent,” he added.

Kovachevski also informed that with the new general collective agreement, every public sector employee receives a 10% raise with the September wage, and by the end of the year they will also receive payment of vacation allowance amounting to 10,000 denars.

Minister of Labour and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska and Mayor of Centar municipality Goran Gerasimovski also visited the preschool centre.

“Caring for children and investing in child protection and early childhood development are our priority. Every investment in the youngest is an investment in the country’s future. I am pleased that today, in the spirit of Children's Week, we had the opportunity to see the excellent conditions for the children in the preschools centre in the municipality of Centar,” Trenchevska said.

“This is an example of true care for children in preschool education,” she said.

Mayor of Centar municipality Gerasimovski emphasized that investing in overall quality education does not depend only on quality staff, but also, as he said, on the conditions in preschool centres.

“The investment in the preschool facilities included the renovation, repainting and installing playground equipment as well as new furniture, new toys and educational toys that can help develop children’s creativity,” Gerasimovski said.

Photo: MIA/Municipality of Centar/Government