\ The seven schools in Ibiza’s complementary network will sign the agreements for free 2-3-year-olds.

\ Three payments are made in advance to cover the costs of financing the free education during the school year.

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The Regional Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Martí March, accompanied by the Director General for Early Childhood, Innovation and the Educational Community, Amanda Fernández, today signed the first free education service agreement for the third year of infant education in the Balearic Islands. Specifically, the agreements were signed for the seven nursery schools that form part of the complementary network in Ibiza: CEI Babyland, CEI Blancanieves, CEI Corrillos, CEI El trenet blau, CEI Mafalda, CEI Petits and CEI Somnis. In the coming weeks, the same will be done with town councils, councils and the complementary network of all the islands.

The free schooling agreements establish that the Govern will assume a total investment of 630,000 euros to finance the provision of educational services for pupils enrolled in the third year of infant education at the seven centres of the complementary network on Ibiza. This measure will benefit 219 children. Once the agreements have been signed, the payments will be processed to enable free education from 1 September 2022, the Department will make three payments in advance, corresponding to two periods of four months and a final period of two months. In the last payment, if necessary, the corresponding readjustments not previously applied will be applied.

In total in the Balearic Islands, to make this measure possible, it is planned to invest 18.6 million euros per school year, so that both public schools and those in the complementary network will receive a contribution of 45,000 euros for each 2-3-year-old classroom. This investment will cover the running costs of these classrooms during ordinary school hours for this educational stage, a minimum of 4 hours for 10 months, which means a cost per year of 2,500 euros per pupil, at a rate of 250 euros per month.

In addition to free tuition for the 2-3-year-olds, an increase in the allocation for the 0-1 and 1-2-year-old modules has also been planned, which means achieving 10,000 euros/unit in the public network (up until now it was 7,000 euros) and 5,000 euros/unit in the complementary network (up until now it was 2,000 euros). In addition, it includes other improvement measures such as the increase in the number of staff in the early intervention teams (EAP), with six more professionals, and the new call for the creation of new public places scheduled for November 2022.

The plan is to reach 5,300 2-3 year-olds in 160 centres on the Islands (108 public and 52 private centres integrated into the complementary network). Of this total, 18 are Ibizan (11 public and 7 of the network) and host a total of 522 pupils (306 public and 216 of the network).

A commitment began in 2015

Currently, in the case of public schools, the cost of 2-3 education is borne by families, town councils, councils and support grants from the Department of Education and Vocational Training. In the case of private schools in the complementary network, the cost of the service is almost entirely borne by families and, to a lesser extent, by the support subsidies of the Regional Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

The free level 2-3 is framed within the lines of action and commitments assumed by the Govern in the framework document “The education of children 0-3 and the necessary equity”, approved in 2019. It should be remembered that the framework document envisaged three major blocks of intervention: on the one hand, the increase in the educational offer for 0-3 through the call for aid for the creation of new public places, which is already in the process of execution, with an investment of 14.4 million euros to create 1,731 new public places and the call for aid for the conversion of nurseries into nursery schools, with an investment of 2 million euros to create 669 places.

Secondly, different measures have been promoted to favour equity in the first cycle of infant education, such as canteen subsidies, which have included these pupils, schooling subsidies, subsidies for severely affected SEN pupils and pedagogical support for centres with the expansion and consolidation of the Early Attention Teams (EAP).

With free 2-3 education, a significant step has been taken on the road to achieving the third major block of action within the commitments of the framework agreement on 0-3 education, achieving free education.

• Attached are voice clips of minister Marti March and Paz Izquierdo, president of the Associació de centres d’educació infantil d’Eivissa de PIMEEF (Association of Early Childhood Education Centres of Ibiza).