Balearics: 33.5% of toddlers attend funded private nurseries

More than one in three children aged 0 to 3 in the Balearic Islands attend a privately run nursery paid for with public money, a new report says. The figure is 33.5% in the islands. Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) presented the study in Madrid on 10 September.

In Spain, these centres are known as concertados: private providers funded from public money. CCOO says 48% of children under three are in education or care nationwide, while almost 11% have education or care needs that are not met.

Public places fall short, CCOO says

In roughly half of those unmet cases, families cannot get access to the service or there is no place available, according to the report. It describes public provision for the 0-to-3 age group as clearly insufficient.

CCOO says that, as demand for places has risen, administrations have partly responded by financing private provision instead of expanding the public network enough. The union wants greater investment in public education and says the first stage of early-years education should be free.

The Balearic figure is below those reported for Andalusia, at 58.4%, La Rioja, at 51%, and Ceuta, at 46.1%. It is nevertheless among the higher regional shares named in the study.

Union calls for halt to new private universities

CCOO links the nursery figures to what it calls a wider shift towards privatisation throughout education. Its general secretary, Unai Sordo, has called for a moratorium of at least 10 years on opening any further private universities.

The report says the number of private universities in Spain has risen from 18 in 2000 to 42, while the number of public universities has remained at 50. Private institutions now teach 23% of undergraduate students and 50% of master's students, it says.

Topics: Jobs & labour · Education · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com