The provisional list published by the Direção-Geral da Administração Escolar (DGAE) on Monday reveals that 53 private and cooperative educational institutions have applied for funding to cover 1,253 slots.
The number of slots requested by these colleges falls significantly short of the objectives set by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI), which had opened 12,475 slots for bidding, distributed across 65 counties.
Out of the 1,253 requested slots, the Government will allocate 1,213, representing less than 10% of the identified needs. This assessment is based on data from the Portal das Matrículas and forecasts for classes in public networks and Private Institutions of Social Solidarity (IPSS).
According to the notice of the competition opening, the majority of the slots (71.9%) were in the Greater Lisbon area. There are 10 parishes with deficits of more than 200 slots—half of which are in the Sintra area—and over 30 locations needing between 100 and 175 slots.
Upon conclusion of the competition, 585 slots will be designated for the Greater Lisbon area, 450 for the Setúbal Peninsula, 104 for the Algarve, 25 for Coimbra, and 49 for the Northern region.
Four new classrooms have been approved in the municipalities of Amadora, Sintra, Almada, and Seixal. However, funding was not granted for new classrooms planned in Coimbra, Cascais, and Lisbon.
The financial contribution per child is set at 208.05 euros, or a total of 15,000 euros for the financial incentive related to the opening of new classrooms.
In April, the government already enacted two new regulations to facilitate the opening of preschool slots in the coming academic year to accommodate an additional 5,000 children aged 3 years and up, prioritizing families in need.
At the time, the Association of Private and Cooperative Educational Institutions (AEEP) warned that the opening of these slots was at risk, arguing that the low funding and short contract duration made opening new classrooms unfeasible.
“Opening new classrooms will be very difficult because it is not viable to open rooms and pay salaries with these amounts. What will happen is that existing classrooms will be filled with students until full,” stated Rodrigo Queiroz e Melo, executive director of AEEP, at the time.
