Cities Alter Kindergarten Fee Model
In Tallinn effective August 15, the city will pay the community charge for kids at private-school kindergarteners only if they previously failed to secure a spot at a minimum of three municipal nursery schools.
Parents who opt for a private nursery school because of, say, the child's health problems must pay the fee in full.
The private nursery school fee is around 400-500 euros a month. To this point the city had paid a flat 111.50 euros of it, Eesti Päevaleht reported.
Tallinn Education Department official Meelis Kond said it was a proposal that was prepared long ago and that the city met frequently with the private schools.
Tartu, meanwhile, has raised parents' ire by raising the public nursery school fee substantially in September with a subsequent hike set for next year.
The part of the fee paid by parents will rise from 39 to 53, and then to 58 euros in January, a 23-12 vote of city council decided yesterday.
The city's goal is to equalize payments regardless of whether the nursery school is public or private. Private nursery schools currently cost parents 110 euros per head in Tartu.