2021
Piloting the standards for organising early childhood development support and family support
26 October 2021
Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education, within the framework of cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, starts piloting the standards within the scope of organizing early support services for child development and family support.
Within the framework of an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Science, a team of specialists in early support of child development at the APS has developed standards for the organisation of early support of child development and family support, which will undergo practical verification and evaluation by persons and entities involved in the implementation of early support of child development in districts.
The invitation to participate in the pilot project is directed to districts and public psychological-educational counselling centres that provide early support for child development or the tasks of a leading coordination and rehabilitation centre.
Care in nurseries (ECEC for children aged 0 to 3) has been suspended
8 April 2021
A regulation has been published which suspends all care activities in nurseries, children clubs and by day carers up to 18 April 2021. Care to children of medical workers and security forces will be still provided.
Classes in pre-school institutions have been suspended up to 11 April (prolonged to 18 April)
26 March 2021
In class activities in all types of pre-school institutions have been suspended up to the 11 April (later prolonged to 18 April). Classes will be conducted with the use of online methods or any other methods recommended by the heads of institutions. Exceptions are offered to children with special education statements and to children of medical staff involved in direct prevention and combating of Covid-19 pandemic.
The results of "MALUCH+" (Toddler+) 2021 competition
Reform status: programme, January 2021
Nearly 19 thousand care places for children under 3 years of age will be created in 2021 by entities other than local government units thanks to "MALUCH+" (Toddler+) 2021 programme. The beneficiaries of the programme will receive funding for the current operation of places for about 112.7 thousand children, including 1.15 thousand children with disabilities or requiring special care
The Ministry of Family and Social Policy has allocated up to PLN 450 million for the "MALUCH+" 2021 edition.
The average monthly subsidy per 1 care place is PLN 80 and in the case of places for disabled children or children requiring special care - PLN 500, however in modules 3 and 4 for reducing parents' fees, the amount of subsidy granted may not be higher than the fees the parents pay for the child's stay in the institution, taking into account the available reductions.
2020
Guidelines of the State Sanitary Inspectorate (SSI) for headteachers of kindergartens
Reform status: approved, 26th of August 2020
Organisation of care in ECEC settings:
- A group of children along with a nursery practitioner should be located in a designated and permanently assigned room.
- If possible, it is recommended that the same nursery practitioner should be assigned to the same group of children.
- The surface area of each room intended for the collective accommodation of 3 to 5 children shall, where possible, be at least 15m2; wherever the number of children exceeds 5, the surface area of the room intended for collective accommodation of children shall be increased by at least 2m2 for each additional child, however, the stipulated area per child shall not be less than 1.5m2.
Detailed guidelines (in Polish).
Up to 25 children in a kindergarten group - updated guidelines of the Chief Sanitary Inspector
03 July 2020
On July 2th, the Chief Sanitary Inspector signed the updated guidelines for kindergartens, preschool forms and care institutions for children under the age of three. The main changes concern increasing the size of a kindergarten group to 25 children.
In addition, the guidelines concerning:
- minimum space required for a group;
- bringing toys to the kindergarten;
- organisation of the work of a group, including e.g. gathering in one room children coming to the kindergarten or waiting to be picked up by their parents, have been relaxed. Parents are allowed to be present in the kindergarten during their child's adaptation period.
Current guidelines of the Chief Sanitary Inspector are available on the link (in Polish).
2019
TODDLER+ 2019
Reform status: competition, January 2019
Open competition for funding in the area of developing ECEC institutions for children aged below 3 years of age TODDLER+ 2019
The competition has been announced by the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy. The invitation to participate is directed to bodies managing settings for children aged up to 3 years and to those institutions which plan to establish such settings in the following edition of the TODDLER programme („MALUCH+”).
The 2019 Edition is to support the following types of activities: establishing and support of ECEC places in crèches, kids clubs and at childminders’.
Financial support in a form of targeted subsidy from the State Budget and support from the Labour Fund can be applied for by local authorities, individual persons, legal entities and organisations with no legal entity status (including higher education institutions) .
The 2019 Edition of this programme has an earmarked budget of 450 million PLN.
The Programme consists of 4 different modules.