As of March next year, the centre will cater for students and doctoral candidates who have children between one and three years of age. They will be able to leave their babies at the centre to attend seminars or to speak to their supervisor. MSzkrab, a University day care centre, is expected to open soon.
Mszkrab, which was set up for student parents, is the first centre of this kind in the city.
The centre caters for student parents who have nobody to leave their babies with while they have to go to their student's office or speak to their supervisor," says Marika Adamska, the mSzkrab project coordinator from the Manus Foundation.
The idea to create such a centre was first proposed in 2010 during the visit of the Vice-Rector of Student Affairs and student government representatives to Dresden, Germany. While visiting one of the student houses they saw a place where students could leave their babies, and they decided to set up a similar place in Wroclaw. It took nearly two years of hard work to prepare it.
"The most important thing was the premises, which were provided, renovated and partially fitted out by the University. We in turn took on the task to collect toys, deck chairs, pots, bedding, etc. All those things that are necessary for the centre to work properly," emphasises Marika Adamska.
The centre is located at the ground floor of a student house in ul Górnickiego. The student house also caters for student parents. The centre, which is 300 sqm in size, consists of two rooms for children to play and a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, room for staff and storage space. The Foundation is now completing the technical acceptance procedure and collecting other equipment, such as bedding and toys. The latter is particularly in demand, especially building blocks, drawing and painting instruments and educational games. Subsequently, the centre will be registered at the Municipal Office.
Parents will be able to leave their babies at the centre three times a week (up to five hours each). They may choose a suitable time slot of which they need to inform the centre one week in advance. This is because the centre must provide meals (catering) and a suitable number of carers. There should be six or seven such carers at the centre.
Once the centre is open, it should have the capacity of 24 children. "From what we hear, our services are quite in demand," say people from the Manus Foundation.
It is still to be established how much the service will cost, but Marika Adamska reassures that it will not be expensive. Parents will be offered discounts to buy passes for their children.
You need to have a valid student or doctoral ID to use the club. First you need to register at mszkrab.manus.pl (in development), then register your baby and sign the agreement. From then on, parents will be able to register at the club once they have chosen a suitable time slot.
Eliza Głowicka
