Two children, ages 5 and 7, escaped from a kindergarten in Sofia yesterday. For more than an hour, during which they were missing and searched for, they managed to use the metro, take a walk, visit a shopping center and were found 5 kilometers from the kindergarten.
The director of the kindergarten Hrisana Kirilova explained to BNT that the building has an access control system, where a code is dialed to enter, and to exit from the inside there is a button that is at a height of 1.70 m, with the presumption that it is not reachable by children.
"We do not have video surveillance, but as far as I understand, the older girl is taller, climbed up the column on which the button is and managed to press it and get out. We have never had a similar case of runaway children or children who managed to get out.
An internal investigation of the case is still underway and the circumstances are being clarified. Measures will be taken after the investigations are completed. The director explained that the teachers initially went looking for the children themselves:
"First they started looking for them on the territory of the kindergarten. Then they came out here to the area around the kindergarten itself, which took time, thinking that they would be able to deal with the situation".
The button will be dismantled and placed in another place so that such cases do not repeat.
"I think we will work towards building an external video surveillance system, and to begin with, we will perhaps start by installing about two cameras on the facade of the building, which will be directed towards the entrance and exit of the kindergarten. A child psychologist will work with all children present in the kindergarten, and regarding the staff, I repeat, after the internal inspection and clarification of the circumstances, the appropriate measures will be changed.
The mother of the 5-year-old child Snezhana Dancheva commented to BNT that there are gaps in the control in the kindergarten, because the exit button is at a height that a child can easily reach.
"In fact, the girl is one head above my son and quite calmly, apparently on tiptoe, just touching the button. Many parents shared yesterday that other children had also tried to press it. So there is definitely something to work on".
Snezhana Dancheva said that she trusts the kindergarten staff because they have always treated the children with respect and love.
"What worries me is that they are really tired of these group classes, because one woman cannot take care of over 20 children, let alone nearly 30, half of whom are strangers to her. She does not know this child, whether he is calm during the day, how to predispose him".
According to the mother, a good approach would be for the group classes to be divided by age, and not for all children from 3 to 7 years old to be together. The mother explained about the escape of the two children:
"He tried to chase her and said that the lady would scold her, as far as possible the child of 5 could tell. He said to go back and the little girl simply confirmed that at one point they looked around and did not remember where the road to the garden was. And accordingly, looking for the right direction, they started to wander. Wandering and they walked 5 km".
Snezhana Dancheva wonders why no one outside - on the streets, in the subway, asked the two children where they were going:
"This is exactly the question for the whole society, which immediately began: "the principal is guilty, the teacher is guilty, the parents are guilty". And those thousands of people who from 8:40 to 11 a.m. saw two children in slippers calmly walking around Sofia".
The Deputy Head of the Fifth District Department Iliya Kuzmanov explained that the children were found near the "Teatralna" metro stop, having traveled one stop.
"In this case, we were, I would say, lucky, because within the first half hour they were found. It happens very often that we search for children and this is one of the most difficult searches, since they do not have established habits or interests".
The dynamism and alienation in our time are enormous, so one cannot speak of people's reaction, Kuzmanov explained:
"Both citizens and colleagues (police officers) would not pay attention, because in the morning at these hours the passenger flow is very large. Two children, you have to focus on them specifically to understand that they are alone and not with an adult".
The timely filing of a police report also implies a success of the search, since the search is carried out in a much smaller area, much more intensively, he added. Naturally, the more timely the report is, the greater the possibility of preventing unpleasant consequences.
Desislava Zhelyazkova, director of the "Education" Directorate at the Sofia Municipality, said that by the end of the summer, inspections will be organized in all 202 kindergartens in the municipality to propose more stringent control measures. According to her, the teachers delayed the search for their own sake, instead of immediately notifying the director.
My personal opinion is that someone should be punished. This is certainly not the director. He acted absolutely adequately in the situation, but his employees did not do the same. In such cases, the director must be notified, who immediately notified the police," said Zhelyazkova.