Two numbers from two Skopje municipalities, published on the same day. At the "Detelinka" branch in Gjorce Petrov, three playrooms have been renovated after a full 40 years. At the "Buba Mara" facility in Novo Lisice, in Aerodrom municipality, the upper floor is being refurbished for the first time in 33 years.

Forty years. Thirty-three. That means a child who walked into "Detelinka" in 1986 now has their own children in kindergarten - and the rooms were the same right up until this summer.

What is actually being done

In Gjorce Petrov, according to mayor Aleksandar Stojkoski, the wall surfaces have been redone, the electrical installation has been replaced and new flooring has been laid across 200 square metres. "After a full 40 years, these rooms are getting a new, safe and modern look," he said.

In Aerodrom, mayor Dejan Miteski and council president Suzana Pavlovska inspected the works. On the upper floor the floors in every playroom and room are being replaced, the doors are being changed and the whole space is being repainted. From September the children are due to get new furniture and new teaching materials.

Replacing electrical wiring after forty years is not a facelift. It is removing a risk that stood for forty years in a room full of three-year-olds.

The question that is not in the announcements

Both municipalities are announcing good news, and it genuinely is good. But "for the first time in 33 years" and "after a full 40 years" are not figures that belong in a celebration. They are figures that demand an explanation - who was signing the budgets in the meantime, and what was the priority instead.

Maintaining a kindergarten has no ribbon to cut and no photograph that goes viral. That is exactly why it gets postponed, term after term, until the delay grows so long that the repair itself becomes news.

How many more such buildings are waiting in the other municipalities, and will 40 years have to pass for each of them? That is the figure worth publishing next.