Government launches competition for 12,000 preschool places in private schools

On Friday, the Government launched a competition for the signing of association contracts to respond to the more than 12 thousand vacancies missing in the pre-school education network, the majority in the Greater Lisbon region.

In April, the executive had already signed two new decrees to allow, in the next school year, to start opening preschool places to accommodate an additional five thousand children from the age of 3, giving priority to the most needy families.

Taking into account an estimate resulting from the cross-referencing of registrations on the Enrollment Portal and the forecast of classes that will be created in the public network and in Private Social Solidarity Institutions (IPSS), the guardianship updated the list of parishes with a lack of supply.

In response to the Lusa news agency, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) states that the 12,475 vacancies in the competition are distributed across 65 municipalities, the majority (8,965) in the Greater Lisbon region.

“With this competition, MECI believes that it is possible to respond more quickly to the needs of children and families and accelerate progress towards universal pre-school provision from the age of 3, as provided for in the Government Program”, says the ministry.

According to the notice opening the competition, there are 10 parishes where more than 200 vacancies are missing – half of which are in the municipality of Sintra – and more than 30 where between 100 and 175 places are missing.

“Private and cooperative education establishments that are installed and operating in a geographical area corresponding to parishes bordering those identified” in the notice may also apply.

The competition runs until 6:00 pm on July 17th.

The amount of financial contribution is allocated per child, corresponding to 208.05 euros, or 15 thousand euros of financial contribution related to the incentive to open new rooms.

In April, the Association of Private and Cooperative Education Establishments (AEEP) warned that the opening of the then five thousand places could be at risk, arguing that the low funds allocated and the short duration of the agreements make the opening of new rooms unfeasible.

“Opening new classrooms will be very difficult because it is not feasible to open classrooms and pay salaries with these amounts. What will happen is that students will fill the classrooms that are not yet full,” said the executive director of AEEP, Rodrigo Queiroz e Melo, at the time.