Following the decision of the House of Representatives to reject the referral by the President of the Republic of the Law on Compulsory Pre-primary Education, if this law is finally enacted as formulated by the Parliament, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (MPEY) notes the following:
- According to Article 4 (c) of the law, upon enrolment around mid-January 2023, "n enrolment, children in pre-primary education shall attend public kindergartens in their district or community kindergartens".
- According to the transitional provisions and article 8 of the law, all children between the ages of 4 years and 6 months and 6 years will be enrolled in pre-primary education for the 2023-24 school year.
- According to these provisions, in January 2023, parents who have previously had children of these ages in private kindergartens will have to move them and enroll them in public or community kindergartens. At the same time, parents with children of these ages who will enroll them for the first time in a kindergarten should be aware that they will no longer be given the option to enroll them in a private kindergarten.
- Consequently, and on the basis of the available data, and in order, as required by law, for pre-primary children to attend public and community kindergartens, parents of children under 4 years and 6 months old (non-compulsory education), who until now have secured a place in public kindergartens (about two thousand children), should be aware that from January 2023 they will have to enrol them in private kindergartens, as there will no longer be places and the possibility of enrolling them in public schools (since all children of compulsory pre-primary education will have to be enrolled in them).
After the January 2023 enrolments, depending on the geographical distribution and if there are no places available locally, parents will be informed in order to investigate whether there are places available in community kindergartens.
It should also be clarified that community kindergartens have so far accepted children younger than the age of compulsory pre-primary education. Regardless of the philosophy of the law, it is not certain that these schools will give priority to children of compulsory pre-primary education age. While even where this can be done, parents of younger children who have hitherto attended community schools by paying low fees will be forced to enroll their children in private kindergartens.
On the basis of the hitherto known geographical distribution and the needs met by community kindergartens, it must be taken for granted that a certain number of children in compulsory pre-primary education will not be able to enrol in a school in their educational district.
(MB/IK)
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