“The number of day nursery places has increased by some 60 percent over the past ten years, and the number of settlements that provide day nursery services has doubled”, the Ministry of Human Capacities’ State Secretary for Family and Youth Affairs Katalin Novák said on Wednesday at the official inauguration of the Napsugár (Sunbeam) Nursery’s extension in Budapest’s 16th District.

Ms. Novák said that in 2010 there were 32 thousand day nursery places in 326 settlements, but now the care of 51 thousand children of nursery school age is being provided for in 740 settlements.

“As one of the points of the Family Protection Action Plan launched by the government a year ago, it undertook to increase the number of day nursery places to 70 thousand by 2022, thanks to which nursery school services will be available in 1100 settlements, four times as many as in 2010”, she highlighted.

“Roughly four times as much, a total of 40 billion forints (EUR 112.5 million), is being spent on financing nursery schools compared to 2010”, she added.
The State Secretary also spoke about the fact that in addition to increasing the number of day nursery places, the salaries of nursery school employees has been increased by an average of 150 percent, and on Wednesday a new 10 percent professional sectoral supplement of 10 percent will be introduced for everyone employed as a teacher.

“Financing for workplace nurseries will be increasing over the next year, and state funding for family nurseries will be increasing from 700 thousand forints to 758 thousand forints”, Ms. Novák told the press.

Mayor of Budapest’s 16th District Péter Kovács reported on the fact that the expansion of the Sunbeam Nursery was realised at a cost of 450 million forints (EUR 1.26 million), towards which the government contributed 300 million forints (EUR 842 thousand) in funding. “Thanks to the development project, 56 new day nursery places have been created within the district”, he added.

Ministerial Commissioner for the Coordination of Nursery School Affairs Ildikó Kovácsné Bárány said that in addition to the nursery school development projects, the modernisation and refurbishment of institutions is also important, in addition to which the work of nursery school workers is also being help with, for instance, the introduction of electronic administration to replace paper-based administration, and the provision of training programs to assure their professional development.

“The nursery school development program is a form of family support, which provides assistance to enable parents to successfully find the balance between work and family, in the sure knowledge that their child is in safe hands”, the Ministerial Commissioner pointed out.

The District’s Member of Parliament Kristóf Szatmáry emphasised that the number of nursery school places in the 16th District has increased by over 100 percent since 2010: In 2010, there were places for 200 children, while the District currently has the capacity to care for 430 children.

(Ministry of Human Capacities / MTI)