Almost one in five children who have the right to free kindergarten is not using the scheme. Guri Melby (V) admits that something is not working.
– “When so many children are entitled to a free space and their parents are not using it, there is a danger that they do not know about this scheme. It is perhaps these children who need the offer the most, and the family is not using it,” says Guri Melby, parliamentary representative for the Left, to Dagbladet.
20 hours of free daycare per week for low-income families has been one of the Left’s major victories in government. As of this fall, the scheme applies to all children from 2 to 5 years in households who earn less than NOK 548,500 annually.
Nevertheless, figures from the Ministry of Education show that close to one in five children who are entitled to free core time daycare do not make use of it. In total, this amounted to 8,000 children in 2018. Free core time means that the child can be in kindergarten between the hours of 10:00 to 14:00 five days a week.
Melby admits that something about the scheme is not working.
– The municipalities have been given responsibility for managing it. They have even received an extra NOK 20 million to advertise the scheme.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Be the first to comment on "8,000 do not use their right to free children’s daycare"