Families will have access to free kindergarten in the private sector if there are no vacancies in the social network in the area of their parish of residence or work, and not in the municipality area, as until now.
In a statement, the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security said Minister Rosario Palma Ramalho approved new measures aimed at increasing family choice in existing support offers for children under three.
Parents will now be able to access free kindergarten in the private sector if there are no vacancies in the parish of their place of residence or work – so far the municipality area has been taken into account – there are no vacancies in the social and solidarity network.
According to the statement, this measure will “reduce travel between work, kindergarten and home, improving the quality of family life.”
In addition, the government decided that private kindergartens will be able to “benefit from additional government funding if their opening hours exceed 11 hours per day, under the same conditions as kindergartens in the social and solidarity sectors already enjoy.”
The measures approved by Rosario Palma Ramalho “fall under the policy of increasing the birth rate and encouraging families to have more children, ensuring the reconciliation of work, personal and family life,” he said.
The initiative to provide free kindergarten to all children under three years of age was announced in 2022 by the government of António Costa and initially covered only the public, social and solidarity sectors.
In January 2023, the program was extended to private institutions.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.