Eisi Mäeots, the mother of one-year-old Arles, would like to return to work in the fall. While her child is on the waiting lists of several kindergartens, the family has no idea whether he might get a place in the fall.

"When I gave birth, I immediately put him on the waiting list for three kindergartens, and you could clearly see the queue numbers and also what was happening with the place — whether someone gave it up or someone rejoined the queue. But when I checked a couple of weeks ago, I discovered together with other friends, young mothers, that those queue numbers no longer exist," Mäeots told Tuesday's "Aktuaalne kaamera."

Mäeots contacted the district administration, the education department and the kindergarten, but still does not know whether and in which kindergarten her child might get a place.

The head of Tallinn's Education Department Kaarel Rundu explained that the waiting list was scrapped after an amendment to the Preschool Education Act last year. Now, a position on a kindergarten waiting list no longer has any significance.

"The local government must notify which kindergarten the child will begin attending two months before the indicated need for a place. Therefore, at the moment, this particular mother may not yet know which kindergarten, as the time she indicated has not yet arrived. At the same time, kindergartens have started offering places earlier so that clarity would reach parents as quickly as possible," Rundu said.

The official said that last fall there was, for the first time in Tallinn, a situation where there were 1,700 vacant places in kindergartens, and nursery group places were available in all districts except Pirita.

The Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia said the law stipulates that the local government must ensure a kindergarten place two months before the time indicated by the parent.

"The parent does not apply to a kindergarten for the place, not to one specific kindergarten or another, but applies to the local government. The local government is obliged to offer the place, not the kindergarten," said Maila Rajamets, head of early childhood education at the ministry.

Rajamets said one possible cause of the problem may be Tallinn's working arrangement, where offers are made not by the city itself but by kindergarten directors. This can lead to a situation where one family considers offers from three kindergartens for several weeks, while another family has not received a single offer at the same time.

In Tallinn, kindergarten places began to be offered from mid-March instead of the usual May 1.

Julia Nikitina, director of Tallinna Asunduse Lasteaed, said: "We are accepting two groups, one a nursery group and the other with three-year-old children, and we cannot fit more. There would be many applicants for these groups. There are a lot of children in the queue, and I think at least one more group."

The first to be admitted were children whose siblings already attend the same kindergarten, and by now the list is more or less complete.

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