The largest portion of the resources is earmarked for schools in Chioggia and San Donà. The goal is to increase seats by at least 33 percent
By Giacomo Costa
May 5, 2024
At a national level there are 734.9 million euros on the plate, and for the province there are 5.76 million for Venice alone, with another approximately 8.93 million destined for the smaller municipalities. And this is only the first batch, given that the list includes 22 other nursery schools, in addition to the seven included in the first round.
The Minister of Education, Giuseppe Valditara, signed the decree for a new plan for nursery schools which, in line with the objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, aims to increase available spaces by 33 percent by 2027. The goal will be reached with annual funding, which began two years ago (although, in truth, in 2022 the money arrived between October and November, too late for most of the municipalities that received it to be able to spend it effectively).
“This is an investment that we consider to have a strategic value for the quality of the school system, and not only that”, commented the minister, “Our objective is to expand a fundamental service to reduce the disparities in starting points, at the same time to meeting the needs of families and in particular of women, to whom we are offering an additional tool for balancing work and motherhood”.
The funding is seen as a fundamental victory by the secretary of the Lega Veneta Alberto Stefani: “This measure will allow the institutions in our area to increase spaces available in nursery schools but, above all, it is a concrete response to the needs of families and new mothers”, he remarked, “The Lega has once again concretely demonstrated its constant attention towards educational institutions, work and families».
In detail, Venice has access to the funding reserved for metropolitan cities, positioned in 11th place out of 14 total, and with the 5.76 million euros on the way it aims to activate 240 new spaces in the nursery schools.
The seven municipalities that are set to benefit from the first block of funding are, in order of arrival, Chioggia, San Donà (both with 72 spaces, receiving 1,728,000 euros each), Mira, Spinea (60 spaces, with 1,440,000 euros each), Portogruaro, Martellago and Scorzé (each with 36 spaces, 864,000 euros).
In any case, the municipalities that are smaller than those identified, and which have a lower resident population in the 0–2-year age group, also remain candidates, joining with neighboring administrations through a specific agreement in order to guarantee more effective joint management of this new funding.
Source: La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre
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