Pre-primary education is the stage of education that caters to children aged 0-5. It is non-compulsory and organised into two cycles: the first one for children up to 2 years of age, and the second one for children aged 3-5.
2025
Redistribution of funds for the creation of free public places in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education
The Council of Ministers, upon request from the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, has approved the redistribution of 13 332 000 euros among five autonomous communities for the creation of 1 200 new free public places for 0 to 3 year olds.
These funds will be distributed among the regions of Aragón, Illes Balears, Canarias, Comunitat Valenciana and La Rioja as part of the Territorial Cooperation Programme to boost schooling in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education, which falls within the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
Boosting schooling from 0 to 3 years of age is a priority, as this stage has an impact on improving the results and performance of children. It also contributes to equal opportunities, educational equity and family reconciliation. Since 2021, 65 000 places have been created in this educational stage.
2024
Reallocation of funds to increase the number of public places in Early Childhood Education and Care
In September 2024, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved the reallocation of 32.2 million euro among seven autonomous communities to create new public places in the First Cycle of Early Childhood Education and Care. This action responds to the request of further funding made by Aragon, Asturias, Castile and Leon, Valencian Community, Madrid, Murcia and Navarre, regions willing to increase their schooling capacity at this crucial stage.
The schooling reinforcement in 1 and 2-year-old girls and boys is one of the priorities within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which aims not only to promote the access to early education, but also to improve academic results in the future. Research has shown that the early engagement in childhood education has a significant impact on children’s academic performance throughout their lives.
Since 2021, the Spanish Government has allocated over 670.1 million euro to support autonomous communities to establish new places in Early Childhood Education. These funds will enable the creation of over 65 000 public places, boosting a vital educational stage for the development of young children.
School Code Programme 4.0 – School Year 2023/24
In December 2023, the Agreement of the Sectorial Conference on Education was published, approving the proposal for territorial distribution and distribution criteria for the credits managed by autonomous communities and destined for the School Code Programme 4.0, in the budgetary year 2023, with an amount of 1 600 000.00 euros.
The recipients of this programme are teachers who provide education in the second cycle of Early Childhood and Primary Education, regulated by Law 2/2006 on Education (LOE), amended by Law 3/2020 (LOMLOE), and their students. Depending on the support needs expressed by the teaching staff, it may be extended to publicly funded schools that offer Secondary Education, provided the support needs of schools offering the second cycle of Early Childhood and Primary Education have been met.
The general goal is to implement the necessary mechanisms and processes to spread and facilitate the development of digital skills related to computational thinking and programming for both teachers and students in publicly funded schools.
The specific objectives of the Programme are:
- To improve the digital skills of students, especially those related to computational thinking and programming.
- To implement digital skills in the classroom, especially those related to computational thinking and programming, through teacher training, support, and the development of digital educational resources.
- To provide schools with the necessary equipment to develop students' digital skills, especially those related to computational thinking and programming.
Programme to Promote Enrolment in the First Cycle of Early Childhood Education with New Publicly Owned Places, Primarily for 1 and 2-year-old Girls and Boys
On December 13, 2023, the Sectorial Conference on Education approved the Agreement establishing the territorial distribution and distribution criteria for credits managed by autonomous communities and destined for the Territorial Cooperation Programme to Promote Enrolment in the First Cycle of Early Childhood Education with new publicly owned places, primarily for 1 and 2-year-old girls and boys, in the budgetary year 2023, within Component 21 "Modernization and digitalization of the education system, including early education from 0-3 years" of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), with an amount of 142 464 043.00 euros.
2023
Increase in public places in early childhood education 2023/24 school year
Following the objective established in LOMLOE on the universalization of schooling for children between the ages of 0 to 2 years, the financing programme for the creation of places in public institutions in the first cycle of early childhood education will continue during the 2023/24 school year with a financial envelope of more than 200 million euros.
This gradual process of increasing public places in early childhood education is already showing in educational statistics. The number of children aged 0 to 3 years enrolled in schools has increased by 6.8% in the 2022/23 school year compared to the previous year (29,919 more schoolchildren). With this, the schooling rate in the first cycle of early childhood education, considered key for equity in the educational system, reaches 45.6%, its highest level since data exists. The statistics '2022-2023 data progress”, issued by the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, with data from the autonomous communities, show this increase.
Reform of the degree plan of the Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education
The Ministry of Sciencie, Innovation and Universities has published a draft ministerial order with the changes it proposes for the curriculum of the Early Childhood Education Bachelor´s degree. Among these modifications, the order includes the organisation of the courses and the distribution of the credits to pass it. The order proposed by Universities adds more credits to subjects such as Fundamentals of Educational Inclusion and Attention to Diversity. In addition, there are subjects that were not mandatory and now become so as the Attention to Diversity. Similarly, this reform focuses on general issues such as “the digitalisation of education, personal skills or sustainability”. As for the subject called Digitalisation, 12 university credits are dedicated.
Implementation of Early Childhood Education Curricula of the different Autonomous Communities
After the reform carried out in 2020 with the publication of Organic Law 3/2020 amending Organic Law 2/2006 on Education, a reform process began that culminated with the publication, among others, of Royal Decree 95/2022 establishing the ordination and minimum education of early childhood education from 0 to 5 years (ISCED 0). From this Royal Decree, each Autonomous Community and the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, in its field of competence, has made a specific provision in its own Decree/Order of Curriculum. They can be consulted at the link of educagob. These curricula have been implemented throughout the Early Childhood Education stage in the 2022/23 academic year.