The Cabinet today decided to continue the tuition and food subsidy plan for children up to four years of age for the 2024-2025 school year, said Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Marilena Evangelou.
In statements to the Press at the Presidential Palace after the Cabinet meeting, Minister Evangelou explained that this is essentially a continuation of the existing plan, which subsidises up to 80% of the cost of nursery or kindergarten fees.
She noted that, following a decision by the Christodoulides government in 2023, eligible for the plan are families who have been approved for the child allowance for the year starting the school year.
She also said that the Cabinet approved a proposal by the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare for a new plan to subsidise tuition and food for children aged four to four and a half years for the 2024-2025 school year, which “will act as a bridge until the full design provided for in the Recovery and Resilience Plan for compulsory preschool education is implemented.”
Regarding the new plan, Evangelou said that the same criteria as the tuition and food subsidy plan for children up to four years of age apply.
For both plans, she stressed, the monthly amount of the allowance is up to 80% of the tuition fees, with a maximum of €350 per month per child, based on family income, the child’s age, family composition, and school hours.
She added that up to 25,000 children up to four and a half years of age will be able to benefit from these plans, with a total budget of €20 million.
“These plans aim to support families, reconcile family and professional life, provide preschool-age children with access to quality preschool education and care without exclusions, and by expanding the income criteria decided last year and this year, and with the age expansion decided today by the Cabinet, the number of potential beneficiaries of the plan increases from 15,000 to 25,000, thus supporting even more families and social justice more broadly,” she concluded.
(information from CNA)
