Where There Are No Pre-schools (WTANP) has been implemented since 1999, initially by the Polish Children and Youth Foundation (PCYF), currently by the Comenius Foundation for Child Development. The goal is to provide equal educational opportunities to children aged 3-5, particularly in rural areas of high unemployment.

WTANP was developed in response to a dramatic decline in early-childhood education services in Poland. In the 1999-2000 school year, only 32% of children aged 3-5 attended pre-school, whereas in rural areas the figure was only 14%. By contrast, the preschool attendance figures for children aged 3-5 were 100% in Hungary, 91% in the Czech Republic and 76% in Slovakia (in 1996).

Faced with a difficult economic situation in Poland, many local authorities responsible for running early-childhood education institutions have closed them down without providing any alternative pre-school education services. The situation is especially dramatic in rural areas. "Where There Are No Pre-schools" aims at helping rural communities where no pre-school services are offered to develop new models for early-childhood education, based on local financial resources.

The programme is now being implemented as a pilot scheme in eight selected rural communities (gminas), where 23 Early Childhood Education Centres (attended by 250 children) have been set up. The Centres are open for three hours a day three days a week. Educational activities are being provided by teachers who have been specially trained by the Comenius Foundation to use the project approach in the classroom. The local authorities cover the costs of the teachers' salaries and the cost of the premises, whereas the Comenius Foundation is responsible for financing the teacher training, monitoring the quality of teaching and setting up local libraries. The Comenius Foundation has also commissioned an external formative evaluation of the programme to enable modification while the programme is being implemented. WTANP is financed with a grant awarded to the Comenius Foundation by the Bernard van Leer Foundation.

  The key advantages of the Where There Are No Pre-schools programme:

• It helps rural communities build local partnerships, supporting the development of young children, involving parents, teachers, local authorities and institutions, supporting families and local NGOs.
• It enhances the quality of education by introducing modern methods of working with children, showing teachers how to foster the development of children's social skills, creativity and openness to multicultural communities.
• The new arrangements are cost effective: the average monthly cost per child in a kindergarten run by the local government in a rural area is 400 zlotys ($100), whereas the same cost at a WTANP Centre is 70 zlotys ($17.50).
• The Centres are creating new jobs for unemployed teachers and graduates of teacher training colleges.
• The programme has developed its own documentation and educational materials, and has trained a group of trainers capable of implementing the programme in rural communities throughout Poland.