1,239 families left waiting on lists for school places

By Nicole Hallet

THERE are 1,239 children on the waiting list for a place in state run pre-schools in the Valencia Region infant schools.

The 17 centres financed by the Valencian Government in the Alicante Province received 2,295 entry requests for the 1,105 places available for children aged one to three.

Only some municipalities have government schools for children up the age three.

There are three in Elche, two in Alicante City, three in Elda, two in Orihuela, while Monovar, Aspe, Ibi, Alcoy, Onil, Petrar and Sax each have one.

Only Orihuela offers eight places for children aged zero to one, according to Mada Macia from the education federation of the CCOO union.

Of the 1,105 places available, 504 are for children between the ages of one and two and the rest for those between two and three.

The cost to put children in a private nursery is between €200 and €300 a month, something that many families cannot afford.

Many families on the dole also need to take their children to these centres so they can look for work.

“It appears there is no interested in increasing the number of spaces available,” said Macia.