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Signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care and the Municipal Nursery of Athens

A new era of holistic reform is dawning for the historical institution of Athens, founded in 1859, the Municipal Nursery of Athens, which is the largest structure in terms of number of beneficiaries of psycho-educational support for early childhood in the country and the local government, with the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation with the University of West Attica, to be implemented by the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECCE) of the School of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences of the University.

The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed, at the Municipal Hall, in the presence of the Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, as well as the President of the Municipal Council Eleftherios Skiadas, the Rector of the University of West Attica, Professor Panagiotis Kaldis and the President of the Municipal Nursery of Athens, Dimitra-Ines Angeli-Lykoudi.

In the brief briefing and discussion that preceded it, the President of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, Professor Konstantinos Petrogiannis, outlined the benefits of cooperation for the development of educational, scientific, research cooperation and exchange of know-how, in the context of acquiring knowledge and developing skills suitable for the requirements of the profession of educators and the ultimate goal of implementing – promoting new methods of education and care in early childhood for the benefit of infants and toddlers and their families.

The Director of Planning, Organization and Human Resources Development of the Municipal Nursery of Athens, Maria Divani, said that due to the standard procedures that have framed the operation of the Athens Municipal Nursery for many years, in terms of child protection, child development and education, high nutritional value of the meals of infants and toddlers, Parent Counseling, the time has come, under the scientific umbrella of this cooperation to strengthen the trust of parents and to take another step towards the harmonization of professional and family life.

Indicatively, the scope of the collaboration includes:

  • The development of new methods of early childhood education and care for the benefit of infants, toddlers and their families, based on the complementarity of objectives and the common interest of both parties in developing educational, scientific and research cooperation and exchange of know-how.
  • The co-organization and implementation of thematic actions in areas of common educational, research and scientific interest, as they arise from the emerging needs of the beneficiaries.
  • The development of actions in the field of research, practice, education and dissemination of information to the community and to national and international institutions.
  • The co-organization of actions of common interest in the field of research, practice, education and dissemination of information in order to update knowledge in the fields of pedagogy, psychology, sociology, management-economics, aesthetic education and culture, for the benefit of the staff, infants and toddlers and parents.
  • The strengthening of scientific cooperation, through the collection – exchange of information – data in the context of research activities, the exchange and creation of information material, publications and research results.
  • The organization and/or in cooperation with third parties of certified seminars, conferences and lectures in scientific areas of mutual interest, as well as other events of a social and scientific nature that will contribute to the development and awareness raising of staff and the general public (parents).
  • The provision of two-way opportunities for student placements in the nurseries, at a time, duration and conditions to be decided according to the capacities of the host institution.
  • The exchange of ideas and proposals at the level of planning, organization, implementation, evaluation and redefinition, jointly, of the above actions in accordance with the terms, rules and procedures governing the two parties.

See the article on the Memorandum of cooperation between ECCE and Municipal Nursery of Athens in ESOS (In Greek).