Child care

A new report from the European Commission highlights several critical challenges for Bulgaria, including adult digital learning, low nursery enrollment for children under three, and a high proportion of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEETs). These issues are part of the second package of the European Autumn Semester.

A government directive warning municipalities against opening new day care centers has heightened tensions between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

The entire educational community, including the Federation of Secondary Education Teachers (OLME), the Greek Primary Teachers’ Federation (DOE), the Federation of Private School Teachers (OIELE), and the Federation of Special Education Staff (POSEEPEA), will join the strike.

At a recent rally in Michigan, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris committed to ending the war in Gaza, ensuring the return of hostages, and advocating for both Israeli security and the Palestinian people's rights. These remarks come just days before the crucial US presidential elections.

Greece outlined measures to boost its lagging birthrate on Thursday, from vouchers and childcare benefits to tax breaks for new parents, although experts questioned the plan's effectiveness.

The Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs’ municipalities program “Neighborhood Nannies”, currently being piloted in only 62 municipalities across the country, is being extended to all municipalities.

The program will be extended to all municipalities in the country and will help parents in the care and supervision of infants and toddlers and make their daily lives easier.

While assurances of salary boosts for nurses employed in kindergartens and nurseries have been made recently, the fundamental challenges endure, plunging the sector into a precarious situation.

Two daycare workers at a nursery in the port city of Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, were suspended and an inquiry has been opened by the municipal authorities after they were accused of locking children in a storage room to discipline them. 

The two female former employees of the city's 2nd Nursery are also expected to be summoned by an examining magistrate on Monday.

The mayor of the "Izgrev" district in Sofia, Dr. Delyan Georgiev, announced the completion of the new nursery located within the residential complex of "Iztok". Dr. Georgiev revealed in a Facebook post that the land for the nursery was procured by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, marking a collaborative effort to address the community's childcare needs.

More than 1,800 of the 1,914 unaccompanied minors taken under protection after the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes have been handed over to their families, the Family and Social Services Ministry has announced.