The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security guaranteed on Thursday that the criteria for determining the priority of a free place in a kindergarten will not be changed, specifying that the law does not discriminate between employed and unemployed people.
In an interview with Lusa, Maria do Rosário Ramalho recalled that the current government has already made a change in the criteria for access to kindergarten, determining that families will have access to a place in the private sector if there is no place in the social services network in the area of your parish of residence or work, and not in the area of the municipality, as until now.
“That was the only change we made and the only one we intend to make. So we don’t foresee any further changes to this in the short term, at least in the medium term, and in particular we are not changing the other criteria for access to the Happy Daycare program,” he said.
The minister’s position is in line with the draft resolution of the Chega party, which has begun to be discussed in the regional parliament of the Azores, and which recommends changing the rules for admission to kindergartens so that priority is given to children born to working parents, taking into account the shortage of vacancies.
On the one hand, Maria do Rosário Ramalho stated that “the autonomy of the autonomous regions must be fully respected,” giving them “the right to take whatever measures they want in this matter.”
On the other hand, the minister said she believed there was a flaw in the criteria “since the law currently does not set out anything” that could harm those who are or are not employed.
“There was a slight idea that the current criteria give preference to unemployed parents or children born to unemployed parents, but in fact this is not the case in the resolution,” he noted.
He clarified that “the criteria of the decree correspond to several objective circumstances,” including those related to household income.
“Perhaps due to a misinterpretation of this criterion, an unlawful idea of favoritism towards the unemployed has arisen. Why? Because, in short, when a person is unemployed, they tend to have less income than if they were employed, but this is not necessarily the case,” he stressed.
As an example, he cited a case where there are two children for a vacancy: one of them is the daughter of an unemployed father receiving unemployment benefits, and the other is the daughter of a working father, pointing out that it may happen that the person who works receives the minimum wage, and this amount is lower than the unemployment benefits of the other parent.
“A [criança] Preference will be given to those whose parents work, and not to those whose parents are unemployed,” the minister clarified, noting that the family’s income is taken into account, and in this case the unemployed father has a higher income than another who works but receives the minimum wage.
“So I think there is some misunderstanding here about the consequences, the criterion that is laid down in the law, and it seems to us that there is not much point in changing it,” defended Maria do Rosário Ramalho.
He added that this is an objective criterion common to many social benefits provided to meet social needs and awarded depending on the income of the recipients.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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