Ministry of Defence launches the construction of a kindergarten for children of MOD military and civilian personnel

The Ministry of Defence is the first department in Slovakia to go ahead with the construction of its own kindergarten for children of MOD military and civilian personnel at Kutuzov Barracks in Bratislava.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “We value the work and time of our civilian and military staff, so we wanted to reach out to them and offer our support in this way as well. Moreover, children are our future, so we will be happy to provide them with high quality space and a modern approach to pre-primary education.”

The kindergarten will provide facilities for up to 60 children (3 classes with 20 children each). Whilst the kindergarten's modular building will be made of pre-assembled steel-framed modules with the A0 Building Energy Rating (BER) Certificate, it will embrace eco-friendly trends such as the green roof and solar panels. The technical modular solution makes sure that it will be possible to add extra modular units to the building if required.

As has been confirmed by Secretary General of MOD Service Office Peter Kozák, the kindergarten envisages the creation of a family-type kindergarten as a priority for MOD military and civilian personnel, with a strong community and environmental education programme.

“As well as enriching the curriculum through the teaching of topics on the importance of the Armed Forces and Rescue Services for our society, our kindergarten will be unique insofar as it will closely cooperate with Military Forests and Estates SOE on environmental issues and with the Slovak Armed Forces Band on music classes,” Secretary General Peter Kozák explained, adding that the project covers the construction of a rain garden with raised flower and herbal beds.

Having put the contract out to tender and selected the winning bidder, the MOD has already handed the building site over to the contractor. Of the €1.49m construction works contract, €990,000 will be funded from the Slovak Recovery and Resilience Programme. Post-completion inspection and handover checks are due in August 2023.