Greek government cuts across the board in most areas will mean some 40,000 pre-school children won’t be able to go to nursery schools because of a lack of money for local municipalities.
From now until August 2, families can submit applications for hosting their children in subsidized positions in nursery schools but there aren’t nearly as many this coming year.
The Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare I. Vroutsis said that the government managed to set aside 150 million euros ($198.5 million) to help more than 60,000 families but that others will be left out. “We need more money,” he said.
The head of the Social Policy of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) Simos Daniilidis said the funds for the program aren’t enough and that 40,000 children will be left out. He asked for another 130 million euros ($130 million) so that all children could be eligible.
This amount, he said, can be collected from the European Regional Development Fund where he said there is more than 4 billion euros ($5.27 billion) going unused.
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