BUJUMBURA, April 2nd (ABP) – Bringing a child to nursery school encourages them to be sociable, to learn certain things by playing and singing, and above all to organise themselves from an early age.
In the crèche, children learn by playing, with fun and encouragement. They also learn polite words, and when they sing, the words register in their heads, according to Mrs. Ir Françoise Kabogoye, legal representative and initiator of the “Les Choupinettes” parent nursery school project in Kinanira, Bujumbura Mayorship, in an interview with ABP on Wednesday 26 March 2025.
According to Mrs. Kabogoye, a crèche is a place where parents leave their young children up to the age of 3, before they start nursery school. At Les Choupinettes, children are welcomed from the age of 8 months, because, she explains, they have to wait until they have the love of their parents and the protection of their mothers before they can go to crèche.
Mrs Kabogoye also pointed out that sending a child to a nursery school has its advantages. At the nursery school, the child is well looked after by “professionals” who have received training in child-rearing and have acquired a certain amount of experience in the field.
She also explained that in the nursery schools, the teachers supervise the children through book-reading sessions. That contributes to the development of their brains.
Mrs. Kabogoye pointed out that the initiators or owners of the nursery schools have notions of child safety that parents don’t have at home.
With regard to safety measures in nursery schools, Mrs Kabogoye explained that children who are a little older cannot be put in bunk beds, as there is a risk of them jumping and injuring themselves. The nursery teachers take turns to make sure that sleeping children don’t fall out or get disturbed by anything while they’re asleep.
According to Mrs Kabogoye, the nursery school is supervised, clean and spacious, and everything is in place for the children’s well-being: toys, books, mattresses, etc., adding that all those materials are placed according to the children’s mobility.
She also announced that at the crèche, the kitchen doors are always closed to prevent the children from burning themselves, but that at home, all the housekeeper has to do is be less vigilant, and the child gets burnt.
She added: “At home, domestic workers have been taught that if a child does something wrong, they are beaten”. Mrs Kabogoye pointed out that children are not beaten in nurseries, but are forbidden to repeat their misdeeds without violence.
She also pointed out that some parents hit their children. That is not a solution, but rather trauma.
She pointed out that that sector presents financial challenges. All parents would like to take their children to nursery school, but because the cost is so high, they are unable to do so.
Finally, she revealed that looking after an 8-month-old child is not an easy thing to do, and parents are unaware of that. She explained that those children are still on 4 legs and we have to follow them wherever they go to prevent them from hurting themselves or others.
Mrs. Kabogoye advised parents to enrol their children in crèches to give them a good start to their social and intellectual life.