Making early learning more accessible with ger kindergartens

Thanks to ger kindergarten, additional 20 children can access early childhood education.
©UNICEFMongolia/2018/Sabina Netrvalova

The kindergarten No. 189 in Ulaanbaatar’s Khan-Uul district is buzzing with noises. In the ger classroom, using the traditional Mongolian tent-like structure, children are running around, playing or singing. Two teachers taking care of them – Mrs. Amgalan and her assistant – certainly have their hands full.

The ger classroom was opened in February 2018 because of the insufficient capacity of the kindergarten’s main building. Thanks to the two connected gers, additional 20 children can now access early childhood education.

Chance of a better future with ger kindergartens

Minjinsor at the entrance of her ger kindergarten.
©UNICEFMongolia/2018/Sabina Netrvalova

“When I’m at kindergarten, I like to sing and play with Barbie dolls. I also like to play with all my friends,” says 5-year-old Minjinsor. She has a shy smile and short hair, newly cut during the Mongolian traditional hair-cutting ceremony.

Minjinsor is one of 15 children who left their overcrowded classroom in the main building of Kindergarten No. 8 in Ulaanbaatar’s Bayanzurkh district, and moved to a new ger classroom. Built in the typical Mongolian tent-like style, it is more spacious so the children can play more freely, and smaller numbers mean they can also enjoy the full attention of their teachers.

No more mold on walls: New bathrooms for kindergartens No. 122

The new sinks at kindergarten No. 122 are more accessible for children.
©UNICEFMongolia/2018/Mungunkhishig Batbaatar 

The brand-new toilets in kindergarten No. 122 in Bayanzurkh district of Ulaanbaatar city are sparkling clean. The bathrooms look bigger now and the sinks are more accessible for children. With over 880 pupils, the kindergarten’s bathroom facilities were in desperate need of renovations.

Unfolding individual potentials: A learning and recreational center gives children room to grow in Khuvsgul, Mongolia

Tamir after completing his puzzle game

©UNICEFMongolia/2017/Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

Rinchinlhumbe soum, Khuvsgul province: “Look, look! I’ve finished this” proudly says 7 year-old Tamir after completing a colored puzzle game in a newly-established learning and recreational center at a local school. He is an outgoing, bright kid who lives in Rinchilhumbe soum, one of the coldest places in Mongolia where the temperature stays around -40°C most of the time during winter.

Emergency nutrition service gives children a new lease of life in dzud affected Mongolia

Local health workers weighing Tsetsgee (January, 2016)
©UNICEF Mongolia/2016/Ganchimeg

“My daughter was underweight and kept getting sick during the winter” says Ms. Orlomsuren, a mother of three who lives in Zavkhan, one of the provinces affected worst by dzud—extreme, harsh winter. She added that she could still remember the long, cold winter nights when she was struggling to put nutritious food on the table for her children, especially her then 2-year-old daughter Tsetsgee. “We were very worried about our little girl and didn’t know what to do when the roads were blocked by snow,” added Ms. Orlomsuren.

When there is a will, there is a way: Investing in early childhood development (ECD) in Nalaikh, Ulaanbaatar

Uranbileg and her favorite Teddy bear
©UNICEFMongolia/2016/Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

“I want to be a doctor when I grow up so that I can heal others,” says 5-year-old Uranbileg, also known as Urnaa. She lives in Nalaikh, a peri-urban district in the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Her bright, intelligent smile belies the chronicle of her past pain and doubt. Having been born with bilateral orofacial clefts, her parents wondered if her little daughter would have a normal life in the future.

Learning at home

Cheerful and happy Anungoo, after she read her favorite poem

©UNICEF Mongolia/2016/Enkhzul Altangerel

5 year-old Anungoo (Anu) is a cheerful little girl, who loves to sing and recite poems for anyone she meets. 

“I know a lot of poems. Do you want to hear one? My favorite poem is the Fall” says Anu enthusiastically, and goes on to recite a poem about beauty of nature in fall. She learned all these just in the past few months by attending recently launched home-based distance learning program.

Books on the move: reaching children with disabilities

Ochiroo with his younger sister outside his home

@UNICEF/2015/Enkhzul Altangerel

“This is a dog, and that one is a cat!” says 4-year-old Ochiroo, turning pages of a children’s book about animals. Ochiroo loves to read children’s books with his mother. He has learned many new words from the books, including names of animals and objects in the past few months. Learning is a special activity for Ochiroo, as he has not been able to attend kindergarten due to hip dysplasia, which made it very difficult for him to walk.

Төр, хувийн хэвшил хүүхдийн сайн сайхны төлөө хүчээ нэгтэж байна

Гавкар охин цэцэрлэг дээрээ тоглож байгаа нь 

© НҮБХСМонгол/2015/Зетти Брейк 

Налайх дүүргийн 152-р цэцэрлэгийн гадаа бяцхан хүүхдүүдийн инээж, баясах дуу цангинана. Цэцэрлэгийн барилгын өмнөх талбайд барьсан 2 гэр цэцэрлэгийн хүүхдүүд хөгжилдөн тоглож байгаа нь энэ.

Private and public sectors working together to improve children’s lives

Gavkar playing at kindergarten

©UNICEF/Mongolia/2015/Zetty Brake

The sound of laughter and children’s voices floats across the grounds at Kindergarten 152 in Nalaikh, a small city 40 kilometers from Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar. It is coming from the two white gers, Mongolia’s traditional, mobile home that sit in front of a multistory kindergarten building.

Цаа бугаа унаад сургуульдаа явна даа.

Өлзийчимэг дотуур байрандаа гэрийн даалгавраа хийж байна 

©НҮБХСМонгол/2014/Зетти Брейк 

Өлзийчимэг жаахан биетэй, мөн урьд нь огт тайруулж байгаагүй юм шиг их урт үстэй охин. Есдүгээр сарын нэгэн болж хичээлийн жил эхлэхэд тэр хоёр эгчийнхээ хамт сумын сургууль руу явлаа. Сумын төв тэдний цаатан гэр бүлээс хол бөгөөд цаа бугаа унаад бүтэн өдөр явж хүрнэ.