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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Early Childhood Education and Care

Last update: 20 April 2025
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Offers of early childhood education and care for children, generally up to six years, can roughly be characterised as childcare and Kindergarten (ISCED 0).

Supplementary Childcare

Supplementary childcare supports families in Liechtenstein. It encourages a better balance between family and working life, serves the integration and socialisation of children and promotes their development. It consists of voluntary services which parents use at their discretion.

The forms of childcare include extracurricular services like day-care facilities, structured day programmes, supervised lunch meals, day-care parents and babysitting services, as well as day-care centres as part of school services.

Operating and running childcare facilities like day-care facilities and structured day programmes is subject to approval based on the Law on Children and Young People (Kinder- und Jugendgesetz) and the Childcare Ordinance (Kinderbetreuungsverordnung). The Social Services Department (Amt für Soziale Dienste) as responsible authority has issued directives for the approval and supervision of non-home-based childcare services and examines if the necessary prerequisites are fulfilled before giving their assent.

Under certain conditions approval is also necessary for childcare services like day-care parents, babysitting services and playgroups. This applies to people who institutionally look after children in groups in their house or in other places for three months or more, or for more than 40 hours a month, for money.

Playgroup teachers cooperating as a legal entity through an agency (association, foundation or establishment) need to be approved by the Social Services Department, regardless of the amount of time spent working in childcare. The same is true by analogy for operators of babysitting services or other childcare services.

The major part of day-care facilities in Liechtenstein is being operated by the Day-care Centres Association (Verein Kindertagesstätten Liechtenstein), which was founded in 1989. Since then 15 centres with structured day programmes and child day-care facilities have been opened with the help of this association.

At the moment, the state generally funds 60% of a day-care facilitiy provided that it has been approved by the government and the municipalities. In addition, day-care centres are granted the necessary infrastructure by the municipalities. A new regulation on the financing of concepts of early childhood education and care is being prepared in cooperation with the municipalities, industry and business representatives as well as with the Day-care Centres Association.

Most institutions charge the parents' financial contributions in relation to income. In cases of occupational absence parents with low income can submit an application for financial support to the Social Services Department.

The Parent Child Forum, an advice centre for education and and family issues, helps in finding supplementary childcare services like persons for day care or babysitters, and ensures their professional status.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is the traditional form of early education and is free of charge. It is a designated part of the education system. As a rule children attend Kindergarten for two years. Children who are four years old on the qualifying date (30th June) are entitled to join Kindergarten. Attendance is voluntary. However, once a child has been registered, attendance is compulsory. For children from families speaking a foreign language attendance of the second year is obligatory.

Kindergarten supplements and supports children's education within the family. Children are being holistically supported in their development. Another duty of education and schooling during Kindergarten is a special focus on social education and personal development, language acquisition, sensory education and training of movement, musical and rhythmic development as well as of creative design. The National Curriculum for the Principality of Liechtenstein is binding for Kindergarten.


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