News - December 2002

5,000 children enrolled in Lithuania

A record 5,158 children have enrolled in the Zippy's Friends programme in Lithuania for the 2002/03 school year. This is 174 per cent more than last year.

The programme started in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, less than three years ago, with only 11 kindergartens participating. This year it has spread to 173 schools and kindergartens in four different counties - Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda and Siauliai. A total of 426 teachers have been trained this year.

A new agency, Vaiko Labui, has been set up to manage and develop Zippy's Friends in Lithuania, and director Aurelija Okunauskiene attributes its success to three factors - a lack of other suitable programmes, the enthusiasm of teachers and the support of the Ministry for Education and Science.

'It is difficult to over-estimate the importance of the Ministry's support,' said Aurelija. 'It opens the door for us, because parents, principals and teachers think that only worthy and reliable programmes would be approved by the Ministry.'

She noted that teachers who have taught the programme are its most enthusiastic advocates and recommend it to their colleagues.

'Some principals notice the rare fact that teachers themselves ask to start Zippy's Friends in their kindergartens. Usually, principals have to ask or even order teachers to implement new programmes,' she said.

Another factor behind the programme's rapid growth may be a study conducted by Dr Ona Monkeviciene, one of the experts advising Vaiko Labui. This showed that children who took part in Zippy's Friends during their final year at kindergarten encountered fewer problems in transferring to primary school and, in particular, were more successful at making new friends.

Expansion is not always easy. For instance, organising teacher training in four counties and distributing materials across large distances is complicated and expensive. However, setting up regional centres to support teachers should help to ease this problem.

Certainly, Vaiko Labui is optimistic about the future.

'We would like every child in Lithuania to become Zippy's Friends before she or he completes the first class at the primary school,' said Aurelija. 'More realistically, we want to reach all ten counties and involve 15% of children aged five to seven by the year 2007.'