Kid falls out kindergarten window, and director’s response causes outrage

A three-year-old fell out of a two-story window of kindergarten №206 in Zemo Ponichala, an area on Tbilisi’s outskirts, today, 25 September.

The boy was rushed to the Ingorokva hospital and is now in its intensive care unit, receiving treatment for face, head and lung injuries. According to the head of the hospital’s urgent medical assistance department, Bessarion Kavlashvili, none of the injuries are life-threatening.

“The child is inclusive, and he literally slipped out of the hands of the teacher [who was holding him]”, the kindergarten director Marina Gogoladze told journalists, meaning for the word “inclusive” to describe a child with disabilities.

“We were all there, but you know how inclusive kids are,” she said. “He had attempted to jump out of the window on a number of occasions before, and today he finally succeeded in doing it.”

Unsurprisingly, her comments came in for harsh criticism on Georgian social media, as many users found them to be unethical. In the meantime, Tbilisi authorities have approached the city’s agency for management of kindergartens, requesting that the director and a number of teachers of kindergarten №206 be suspended.

• In Tbilisi, which is home to over a million people, there are only 156 state-funded kindergartens.
• The typical class size is around 50 kids, and overcrowded classrooms are only one of numerous problems plaguing Georgian kindergartens.
• Poor safety is another one.