Increased number of children in kindergartens
In the past years, Ljubljana has been facing increasing requirements for free places in kindergartens. We have responded to the issue with extensive investments.
In the years between 2007 and 2019, the number of all children in kindergartens increased by more than 22.1% and the number of children residing permanently in the City of Ljubljana by 41.1%.
With new constructions, reconstructions and adaptations in the years between 2007 and 2019, we introduced 2,417 additional free places or provided for 104 new kindergarten groups. The inclusion of children in kindergartens in 2019 is 93.6%, which is high above the national average (81.7%) and also very high among European cities. At the end of 2019, 23 public kindergartens were operating in 785 groups for 13,358 children in total.
These data reflect that childcare is provided for all children in Ljubljana whose parents have a permanent residence in the city under consideration that some parents choose not to enrol their children in the kindergarten or arrange for their care differently.
Kindergartens with a premium standard
For a higher quality of preschool education, we provide a premium standard in kindergartens: in the last year before entering primary school (short camps, winter holidays, summer holidays and other activities), in the amount of 75 euros per child, we co-finance winter/summer holidays in holiday homes of COL for children with a permanent residence in the COL in the amount of 2.5 euros per night. We also finance their escorts and specialised pedagogues for children with special needs.
We also offer additional subsidies of kindergarten fees, which are city discounts for kindergarten fees, discounted housing loans and the option of using health or holiday provisions, the latter during the summer break.
A higher standard for the care of children with special needs
Children with special needs receive additional professional help in our regular kindergarten programmes or are included in kindergartens’ developmental groups with an adapted preschool programme.
In public kindergartens, there are 11 developmental groups for children with special needs. A new kindergarten in Kašelj, has a special group for children with the autism spectrum disorder.
