“We are talking about 12 thousand children who are waiting for a place in pre-school”, stated the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI), Fernando Alexandre, during the hearing on the State Budget proposal for 2025 (OE2025), which is taking place in parliament.

Many families are currently faced with the difficulty of finding a place at a pre-school, after having arranged for their children to attend a daycare center free of charge, through the “Happy Daycare” Program.

“The problem is that the vacancies that were in the ‘Creche Feliz’ at the time of transfer to the pre-school were not taken into account”, highlighted the minister, adding that “80 missing rooms in the pre-school have already been identified”.

The Government announced in June the creation of a working group to design an action plan, considering that at the time there were almost 20 thousand places missing so that early childhood education could receive all the children then enrolled in daycare centers in September.

The OE2025 proposal foresees a budget of around €706 million for early childhood education, with a forecast of an increase of 170 more classrooms in the public network in order to guarantee the universalisation of early childhood education.

During the hearing, Fernando Alexandre also recalled the transfer process to local authorities, ensuring that the Central Administration now has “an increased responsibility, because it is the Government that is responsible for guaranteeing equal opportunities for all”.

The OE2025 foresees a total consolidated expenditure for the education area of ​​7.47 billion euros, that is, 6.8% more than last year.