The Municipality of Tirana will increase the fees for public kindergartens in Tirana

From 2024, food fees for children attending public preschool institutions in Tirana are expected to increase.

In relation to the draft budget of 2024, the Municipality of Tirana has requested an increase in the daily food fee for children in kindergartens and nurseries from 6 to 15%.

For children who attend public kindergartens and nurseries in Tirana, a monthly fee is paid, which consists of the fee for food calculated with the daily fee and the days of the child's attendance during a month.

For kindergarten children, the daily food fee from 160 ALL per day from 2024 has been requested to be 170 ALL per day (6.2% increase). For nursery school children, the daily food fee from 130 ALL per day will be 150 ALL per day (increase of 15.3%).

According to the draft budget report, the increase in the daily fee was influenced by the increase in the prices of food items.

"The General Directorate of Nurseries and Kindergartens in recent years have encountered difficulties in meeting expenses for food since the prices of food items have increased and for this purpose the increase in the food fee for both subdivisions has been requested; the food fee for kindergartens from 160 allek per day to 170 allek per day and the food fee in nurseries from 130 allek to 150 allek per day.

In the estimated values ​​for collection from food fee payments for both types of institutions, the value of refunds for the layers that are exempt from the food fee was taken into account", it is quoted in the draft budget report.

The increase in the food fee for nurseries and kindergartens is expected to increase the income realized by the General Directorate of Nurseries and Kindergartens by 57 million ALL or about 17% for 2024 in relation to the expected income of 2023.

For 2023, it is predicted that the income from kindergarten payments will reach 230 million ALL, while for 2024 it is expected to be 255 million ALL or about 11%.

The income from the payments of daycare centers for 2023 is expected to be realized in the amount of 108 million ALL, while for 2024 the income is expected to reach 140 million ALL or about 30% more.

The municipality of Tirana argues in this regard that the increase in receipts from the payments of kindergartens and nurseries will also be affected by the increase in accommodation structures. By the end of 2027, 22 new kindergartens and nurseries are expected to be built.

In the 12 administrative units of the capital there are 53 public kindergartens and 43 nurseries which are managed by the Municipality of Tirana.

At the beginning of the new academic year, the fees for children in nurseries and public kindergartens in Tirana did not change.

There were fee increases this year from some non-public kindergartens in the capital. Due to the increase in demand, the fees in private gardens were up to 42% more expensive compared to last year./MONITOR