Four million crowns for increased competence

Each year municipalities receive a certain sum of money towards improving the quality of preschools. This year preschools in Östra Göinge have been awarded a total of almost four million crowns for the year 2022.

– The idea is to improve the quality in preschools. There are guidelines to be followed, for example one- to three-year-olds should be in groups of six to twelve children while there can be between nine and fifteen in a group for four- and five-year-olds, says Louise Wendel, who heads the department for primary education in Östra Göinge municipality.

–These are the guidelines we have, but they are not arbitrary. We try to follow the guidelines, but in the end the needs of the children are what we take into consideration.

The state funding the preschools receive comes in two parts, with the municipality getting 764,082 crowns in August and the remaining sum of just over three million crowns in April.

– It will go to improving quality, but it can also be used to develop competence and to retain staff or take on new staff for the preschool, says Louise.

The grants that have been sought for preschools are dealt out over the year. If the whole sum is not used up, the municipaölity must pay back the surplus.