About project
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OBJECTIVE
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COUNTRIES
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ORGANIZATIONS
⚫ The Problem
For over 20 years, Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, has faced a persistent shortage of places in kindergartens. In the past five years, an average of 12,000 children annually have been unable to secure a spot in a kindergarten. This shortage has significant social and economic impacts, including an increase in the number of children per group, which strains the quality of early childhood education.
⚫ The Solution
In the European Union, there has long been a range of successful practices where the state has established effective models of public-private partnerships. Some of the most well-known examples are found in Austria. Private childcare facilities, such as Tagesmutter (Day Mother), Kindergruppe (Children’s Group), and Kindergarten (Kindergarten), are popular and preferred by parents.
⚫ The Goal
The objective of the project is to develop Bulgarian models of public-private partnership to conduct regular educational and developmental activities for preschool children. These models will be adapted from existing ones in Vienna, the capital of Austria, which have proven their effectiveness over time.
MORE for the problem
The shortage of places in childcare facilities has been identified as stemming from several key issues: the significant influx of young people settling in Sofia, the insufficient number of kindergartens being built by the municipality, a lack of targeted municipal policies and funding to address the problem, and the absence of innovative solutions. For 12,000 families, one parent will be unable to return to work, needing either to hire a nanny or secure a spot in a private daycare with fees that exceed the minimum wage.
Although the issue of limited childcare availability is most severe in Sofia, other municipalities across Bulgaria face similar challenges without a clear solution. In Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, the issue is partially mitigated by increasing group sizes in kindergartens. In Sofia, the allowable increase is capped at five additional children per group, but in Plovdiv and Varna, there are ongoing reports of exceeding this limit by 10 or more children, which impacts the quality of care and the comfort of the children.
Project Funding
The project is implemented under the Erasmus+ Programme, Key Action 2, Small Partnerships, with registration number 2023-1-BG01-KA210-SCH-000155629. It runs from December 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, with a total budget of €60,000.
About Partners
The project includes partners from two countries: Bulgaria and Austria.
Sofia Minicipalty
Slatina district
Slatina district
Sofia, Bulgaria
cooridinator
info@so-slatina.org
KG 184 "Winnie-The-Pooh"
Sofia, Bulgaria
partner
dg184@mechopuh.info
Epsilon Marketing e.U.
Vienna, Austria
partner
eugen@epsilon-marketing.at