Starting from 1 April, municipal kindergartens will be completely free.
The new kindergarten “Joy”, built as an Istrian village with ten houses, was officially opened in Umag on Thursday. Starting from 1 April it will be free, just like ten other kindergartens owned by the town, reports Večernji List on March 10, 2017.
Mayor of Umag Vili Bassanese said at the opening of the kindergarten that his town has improved national standards and, as part of the demographic renewal initiative, he announced that starting from 1 April Umag will become the first town in Croatia with free kindergartens for all about 600 children, with no waiting lists, and with highest standards.
Mayor opened the kindergarten together with directors Marija Adamović and Ondina Šimičić, and with head of department for pre-school education at the Education and Science Ministry Marija Ivanković.
The kindergarten has been built as an Istrian village with ten houses which cover the total area of 2,500 square metres, with outdoor playgrounds, a specially built amphitheatre for creative activities for children and a park. The kindergarten will be attended by 200 children in ten educational groups. Thanks to co-financing from the Fund for Energy Efficiency worth five million kuna, the buildings belong to the highest level of energy efficiency, the kitchen will use natural gas, while thermal insulation, cooling system and central security system have been built to very high standards. The whole investment is worth 31.4 million kuna.
“In addition to educational standards in preschool education, which makes us the leading town in Croatia, this new futuristic complex confirm our status as a town which can be an example and the future of pre-school education in Croatia”, said Mayor Bassanese.
Ivanković said that was worth to wait all these years and finally come to such “a place of unity, love and joy”. “Umag is the first town in Croatia that will have free kindergartens for all children. In Croatia, there are 128 towns and 428 municipalities and only four municipalities have free kindergarten, and they will be joined by Umag starting from 1 April”, said Ivanković.
