The FBBE facilities are accessible to all parents from the German-speaking Community, but there is no guarantee that everyone will get a place and even less that everyone will get a place in their chosen municipality. The three crèches are located in Eupen, Hergenrath and Sankt Vith. The childminders are distributed in all nine municipalities of the DG.
As far as possible, they try to offer parents care that is close to their place of residence or work.
Parents must have a connection to the German-speaking Community (they must live or work in the DG) in order to enrol their child in a facility.
Parents are free to choose the facility as long as there is an offer. Unlike schools, there is no guarantee of getting a place because there are fewer places than children. There is a waiting list, which is filled at least one year in advance in the crèche.
Usually the way it works is that the first one to enrol gets a place. However, there are exceptions:
* - a child who has siblings in a facility has priority;
* - a child who wants to change facilities has priority;
* - a child who is at risk has priority.
From 3 years
For children aged 3-6 years, kindergarten is organised and subsidised by the German-speaking Community. There are no autonomous kindergartens. The kindergarten is in itself a school level, but always forms a unit with the primary school level: the so-called Grundschule.
As a result of an amendment to the federal law of 29 June 1983 on compulsory education, full-time attendance at nursery school has been compulsory for all five-year-olds in Belgium since 1 September 2020.
For children aged 3-6 years, kindergarten is organised and subsidised by the German-speaking Community. There are no autonomous kindergartens. The kindergarten is in itself a school level, but always forms a unit with the primary school level: the so-called Grundschule.