In Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) for children under three, families are free to enrol their children in the institution of their choice, usually choosing ECEC facilities close to their place of residence or work. Children’s admission to any crèche is the responsibility of the institution's management, whether in private not-for-profit or for-profit organisations.
One in two children under the age of three are enrolled in ECEC. Although attendance is not compulsory, provision has increased considerably in recent years, particularly in terms of crèches. Network coverage for children up to three years old was 48.4% (GEP/MTSSS, 2019) in mainland Portugal, demonstrating growth of 48% compared to 2009. That said, coverage is uneven throughout the country, and provision in the Greater Lisbon and Porto areas does not meet the needs of the resident population. The average rate of crèche and childminder use in 2019 was 86%.
The Portuguese authorities guarantee an ECEC place at the age of four, five or six years old, in the last one to two years of ECEC (ISCED 020). This stage is focussed on lifelong learning, which includes the next phase of education (1st cycle) and attendance at pre-school level for one or two years, which, although highly recommended, is not compulsory. The legal entitlement to ECEC was extended to the age of four by Law No. 65/2015, 3rd July. Since 2015, Portugal has managed to provide enough places for the last two years of ECEC in all areas of the country, guaranteeing universal pre-school education in line with the law. Universal attendance for children aged three has been brought forward to 2020. ECEC participation for children aged four and over is 94.2% and 90.9% for children aged three and over (2017).
ECEC programmes for children over three are mainly provided in school-type structures at the same location/administrative facility, alongside premises where older children are schooled. Children enrolled in pre-school education (Article 16, Pre-School Education Framework Law, Law no. 5/97, 10th February), both in the public and private not-for-profit networks (IPSS), with financial support from the state, are entitled to education (five teaching component hours), out of hours provision and family support (meals and an extended timetable, in addition to the five hours of daily teaching).
When registering children over three years old for ECEC, whenever possible, families should indicate five educational establishments in order of preference. A rule of priorities is applied for placements, including the age of the children (oldest have priority), proximity to the child’s home address and the family’s socio-economic situation. Children with specific health and learning needs have priority, as do children whose parents the state has identified as being unable to provide the necessary care. In private schools, admission criteria are established by the individual institutions and included in their internal regulations.
To ensure national coverage for early intervention provision, the Ministry of Education created a network of benchmarked school clusters, where over 500 pre-school teachers are placed. These professionals will be part of the local intervention teams working in the school cluster catchment area. These pre-school teachers support children up to the age of six who attend kindergartens that are part of the private or solidarity network, or who are at home, in a family crèche or with a childminder.
The private sector makes up a significant proportion of ECEC for children under three years old: 17.3% of children attended private crèches in the for-profit sector in 2019 (GEP/MTSSS, 2019). The total amount of monthly fees is not regulated, but part of this is paid. In the case of crèches run by private not-for-profit organisations (with a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security), every year the public contribution paid to the institution for each child is updated, with an income-based supplement paid by the family itself. Parents’ and guardians’ contributions to the cost of the non-teaching component of pre-school educational establishments is regulated by Joint Order no. 300/97, 4th September. Subsidies are established annually via specific legislation and families’ contributions are calculated according to income.
Public pre-school education (three to five years old) is free. From the age of four, enrolment at a school in the area where the child lives is a legal entitlement. In the 2018/2019 school year, from a total of 243,719 children enrolled in pre-school education, 128,512 (52.7 %) were attending the public network. See Education Statistics 2018/19 (DGEEC) and also Student Profile: Mainland 2028/19 (DGEEC).
To ensure that the five-hour teaching component provided by pre-school teachers is free, there has been a strategy of consolidating partnerships via cooperation protocols between the Ministry of Education (ME), the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS) and the private social solidarity institutions (IPSS) network. As such, both children who attend the public network and those who attend state subsidised ECEC (IPSS) are entitled to teaching/education and access to out of hours provision and family support, providing meals and an extended timetable beyond the five daily teaching hours (Article 16, Pre-School Education Framework Law, Law no. 5/97, 10th February).
As a result of these protocols, every year the cost per child/month is updated. Once financial support is established, agreements can be signed between the state and institutions, in the case of the private not-for-profit network, and between these and the local authorities, in the case of the public network. In most cases, the transport of children (family home) is paid for by the local authorities. The costs families incur with ECEC fees for children of all ages are tax deductible.
See additional information in Subchapter 3.1 - Funding pre-school and school education.