Spain pledges free childcare for under-threes
Pedro Sánchez has pledged to keep working towards free, public childcare for all children aged 0 to 3 after meeting nursery-school workers in Madrid on Friday, 11 September. The Prime Minister said the aim was a universal service for families regardless of income or where they live. Representatives of the Platform for Nursery School Workers said they left the meeting at the Moncloa government complex pleased with his response.
The workers pressed for better conditions, more funding for care for under-threes and a public network of centres available to all. Sánchez said early-years education was important for equal opportunities and that quality at the centres mattered beyond their role in helping parents balance work and family life.
The government says it has invested €670 million in the first stage of early-years education, creating more than 45,000 new free public places and lifting early enrolment to 56%.
New teacher-child ratios proposed
The Ministry of Education is updating Royal Decree 132/2010, the rules governing these centres. Rosa Marín, spokeswoman for the workers' platform, said the change was progressing well and she hoped it would be ready before Christmas.
The proposal sets one teacher for four children aged 0 to 1, six children aged 1 to 2 and eight children aged 2 to 3. The ministry is also considering changes to educational spaces.
Sánchez called on Spain's autonomous communities to use their education powers fully and spend all state money transferred for education.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com