Nursery (childcare center) in Portugal | slots, research and legislation

Items covered: childcare places in Portugal, free childcare center (nursery), private childcare, enrolment, research, law, etc.

Introduction

This article will address the main issues related to the right of children to nursery, crèche and kindergarten (pre-school). The aim is to guide and parents and other interested parties in relation to children’s entitlement, as well as to clarify the structure of education in Portugal for pre-school age.

Items covered: places for daycare, free daycare, private daycare enrollment, research, law, etc.

According to article 74, no. 2, b, of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, it is the responsibility of the State to “create a public system and develop the general system of pre-school education“. Therefore, children have the right to day care.

Pre-school education is intended for children aged between three years and the entry into compulsory education, constituting the first stage of basic education in the process of lifelong education (as established in the Framework Law on Pre-School Education, Law No. 5/97, of February 10 – known as the Basic Law of the Education System (LBSE).

Social Security in Portugal

In Portugal, the responsibility for daycare is attributed to Social Security (Instituto da Segurança Social, I.P.). Social Security is the government body responsible for the social protection and welfare of citizens, including the area of childhood and pre-school education.

The Instituto da Segurança Social, I.P. is the entity that regulates and supervises the network of daycare centers in Portugal, both public and private daycare centers. It establishes the requirements, criteria and standards for the operation of childcare centers, as well as the eligibility for access to these services.

In addition, Social Security may also offer financial support or co-payments for families who need assistance to pay for daycare fees, especially for those with lower income.

Therefore, Social Security is the responsible authority for daycare centers in Portugal, ensuring that these institutions meet quality standards and comply with public policies related to pre-school education.

Law no. 65/2015, of July 3 – first amendment to Law no. 85/2009, of August 27

According to this legislation, pre-school education is universal for all children from the year they reach the age of 4. This universality implies, for the State, the duty to guarantee the existence of a network of pre-school education that allows the enrollment of all children covered by it and to ensure that this frequency is carried out under a free regime of the educational component.

Nursery and kindergarten

The separation of children by age in nurseries and pre-school education institutions is a common practice to meet the specific developmental and learning needs of each age group. This approach aims to provide an educational and care environment appropriate to the developmental stage of each group of children.

The separation of children by age usually follows specific criteria, such as:

Nursery: This age group contains the youngest children, usually aged up to about 12 or 18 months. At this stage, children are still very dependent and need more intense care, including special feeding, diaper changing and sensory stimulation activities.

Nursery: For children aged between 1 and 3 years. At this stage, children begin to develop motor, language and social skills. Pedagogical activities are more directed to promote exploration and interaction with the environment.

Kindergarten (Pre-school): Generally for children aged between 3 and 5 years. At this stage, the focus is more on developing cognitive skills such as language, logical reasoning and socialization. Activities are more structured and include preparation for entry into elementary school.

“Happy Daycare” program (Creche Feliz in Portuguese)

Social Security has launched the “Creche Feliz” mobile app. With this application, you can search for daycare centers with free places for children born on or after September 1, 2021.

With this application, the interested party can search and obtain information about the daycare centers that have free places available in the area of residence or place of work. In the application you can also see the contacts and location of the participating daycare centers.

If there are no vacancies in daycare centers of the solidarity network, families can choose a daycare center of the profitable network and ask for support from Social Security for the exemption of payment. This support can also be requested in the application.

The Creche Feliz program covers all children born on or after September 1, 2021, who attend daycare centers, family daycare centers in the solidarity network, Social Security nannies or daycare centers in the profit network that are part of the list of participating institutions.

Children born before September 1, 2021 are only covered if they fall within the first or second income bracket of family contribution.

Social Charter in Portugal (Carta Social in Portuguese)

According to the website itself, the Social Charter is a study of the dynamics of the Social Services and Equipment Network (RSES) that aims to make known the social responses, in the scope of social action, supervised by the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS), in operation on the Mainland, its characterization, territorial location, equipment and support entities.

The Social Charter, as it has been designed, built and updated, is intended to be both a multipurpose instrument of extreme flexibility in the fields of social information, support for decision-making at different levels, support for institutional cooperation and, in particular, information to the citizen.

The information provided in the Social Charter includes the equipment with social responses from the public, solidarity and private-profit networks.

Nanny in Portugal (“ama” in Portuguese)

A nanny is a person who takes care of children in their home until they reach the age of entry to pre-school.

From the age of 3 (completed by September 15), the child must join a pre-school establishment.

To carry out the activity of nanny in a legalized way you need a permit. This authorization is granted by the Social Security Institute, I. P., after verification of compliance with the requirements and conditions provided for in the regulations in force for access to the profession.

The terms and conditions for access to the profession and the exercise of the activity of nanny are established in Decree-Law no. 115/2015, of June 22.

Directorate-General for School Establishments (DGEstE)

The Directorate-General for School Establishments (DGEstE) in Portugal is responsible for the management and administration of public basic and secondary education establishments, not including pre-school education.

Author: Adriano Martins Pinheiro, lawyer in Portugal

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