Confusion about nursery school fees. Should parents prepare for a hit to their wallets?

On Monday, Koszalin councilors voted to change the fixed fee for a child’s stay in a municipal kindergarten PLN 580 to PLN 1,750. The Koszalin authorities argue that the increase is necessary due to the rising costs of maintaining the facilities.

The representatives of the city indicate that the monthly cost of keeping a child in a kindergarten in Koszalin amounted to PLN 2,562 in the first half of 2024. The municipality subsidizes kindergartens with almost PLN 18 million per year, which is a huge burden on the budget. As a result of the increase in the fixed tax, PLN 900,000 more will remain in the city budget every month. PLN, which translates into annual savings of PLN 9.7 million.

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A similar bill was already approved by Czestochowa councilors, although the increase there was limited to PLN 1,500. Will more cities join these cities? In addition to Koszalin and Czestochowa, where the increases have already been approved by councilors, other local governments are considering tax increases – Żory, Łódź, Zamość and Katowice.

However, it may not end there. Robert Wilczek, President of the Board of Directors of the 1st National Association of Public and Private Kindergartens and Children’s Clubs, in an interview with money.pl admits that a wave of price increases could start at any moment.

I know that there are other cities in Poland that are considering such an activity. Some local governments are monitoring the development of the situation and will make a decision then. From my experience and the collaboration with local governments, I see that it is likely that taxes will increase in most local governments, he says.

Let us remind you: the increase voted by Koszalin raised a great controversy, among others. as it will coincide with the introduction of new government support for parents.

As part of the “Active Parent” program, which came about from Donald Tusk’s famous “grandmother” promise, the government can pay an extra (if the parent requests it) up to PLN 1,500 per month for a child who is attending kindergarten (or PLN 1,900 for). disabled child). The money will also not be paid to kindergartens that spend more than PLN 2,200 for child care. The bonus will be paid from October.

In the case of Koszalin, PLN 1,500 of the kindergarten fee will be covered by the government, and parents will have to pay an additional PLN 250. If the feeding fee is added, parents will pay PLN 460 for the kindergarten per month out of their own pocket. As calculated by the Polish News Agency, currently, using the subsidy from family care capital, they pay PLN 390 (fixed fee PLN 180 and PLN 210 for food) or PLN 290 (tax fixed PLN 80 and PLN 210 for food), respectively. .

Deputy Minister of Labor Aleksandra Gajewska announced that Thursday after her intervention however, public kindergartens in Koszalin will be free (ie government support will cover the costs of the fixed fee in full). For now, however, it is a promise that councilors will still have to turn to binding law during the vote. A day later, the deputy minister in Łódź made a similar promise.

The opposition is taking advantage of the uncertainty about the government’s program. “The mayor (of Zamość – editor’s note) Rafał Zwolak from the Smiling Coalition wants to introduce a tax of PLN 1,500 per child. There are no polite words to describe it,” wrote MP PiS Monika Pawłowska on social media. “Enough of plundering the Poles under the guise of laughter,” she said and asked for the ministry’s intervention.

“It is difficult for me to intervene in a situation when care in public kindergartens in Zamość is free for parents. Yes – this was one of the goals of Aktyna Rodzic’s program,” wrote Aleksandra Gajewska.

PiS MP Waldemar Buda also argues in his social media entry that the government wants to raise taxes for citizens. “There were 860, there will be 1,500! This is the embankment of the 21st century! They agreed to give subsidies to kindergartens, and local governments with KO will increase the taxes by the same amount “- he wrote on the website X. Aleksandra Gajewska assured again that kindergartens will be free as a result of the government program.

Communication problems were evident during Aleksandra Gajewska’s intervention with the Koszalin authorities on Thursday. After a meeting with the deputy head of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, the mayor of the city, Tomasz Sobieraj, announced that he would submit a draft of a new resolution that would introduce the name to the called a fixed fee of PLN 1,500, fully covered by the government. There is no certainty that the Poles will understand this change in the statement.

Indications from money.pl readers indicate that the program’s approach is not entirely clear. – I work, my husband works, so we definitely qualify for the program and we will benefit from this subsidy. But if, for example, one of the parents is not working, they may have a problem getting help – says Mrs. Dagmara from Ząbkowice Śląskie, mother of a three-year-old child.

We contacted Ms. Dagmara after receiving her message. In the email, the reader wrote about the increase in kindergarten fees from PLN 400 to PLN 1,500 from October. – I am not sure if this project applies to public kindergartens or if I have an agreement with a private one, I can also benefit from the subsidy – she said.

Robert Wilczek explains that some people still do not understand how the new government program will work. – Interestingly, some local governments do not know this solution existswhich directly supports them – he emphasizes.

Wilczek also explains that the subsidy will go to all registered kindergartens that work legally, ie into the Emp@tia system. – This is money for organizations that run facilities, both public and private. This type of support will definitely have an indirect effect on raising the level of kindergarten education in Poland. It’s a very good program, but I don’t think it’s fully explained – says the correspondent money.pl.

It also draws attention to the real costs incurred by local governments. – The maintenance of one child in a kindergarten costs two or three thousand zlotys, depending on the region of Poland. If the local government kindergarten had tuition fees of PLN 300 now, and today it rises to PLN 1,000, remember that the parent will not pay anything anyway, because he or she receives support from the state up to PLN 1,500, he says.

– This is support for the local government, injection financialwhich is it will be an incentive to open a nursery schoolso that a mother who wants to go to work has a place to leave her child. Before that, local governments did not receive any money for the maintenance of kindergartens, only for their creation – adds the expert.

According to Wilczek, if local governments raise tuition fees, this should be followed by investments in infrastructure.

– In the near future, all nurseries, public and private, must implement quality standards for child care. This will force local and private nurseries to introduce many new regulations aimed at improving the quality of childcare. The implementation of these standards involves costs, so money from the increases should be used indirectly for this purpose, Wilczek says.

The director of one of the kindergartens, who wanted to remain anonymous, explained in an interview with us that the procedures for how parents will be informed about the new subsidy system are still being developed.

– If a parent is “offended” by the government program and says that he or she does not use or ie and does not submit an application to ZUS, he or she must cover the total amount set by the municipality, he says.

– There is still no final scheme that determines what it will look like in practice. Local governments can develop different ways to use the act, which comes into effect in October. Each local government will make its own decision, he explains.

To receive a kindergarten subsidy under the program “active parent”the parent must submit an application. This will be possible from 1 October. ZUS will only accept applications electronically.