By the end of this government term six thousand nursery places will have been created and more than another five thousand will have been modernized, Minister of State for Social and Family Affairs Miklós Soltész said on Wednesday in the town of Salgótarján, north-eastern Hungary, during the laying of the foundation stone for a new nursery there.
Mr. Soltész said the six thousand additional places amount to an increase of 20 percent, adding that the government’s family support program, nursery building, supplemental childcare support and family tax benefits were all designed to help families who want to have children.
He said that this year the budget for free and 50 percent subsidised meals for children has increased by 30 percent and state funding for nurseries who raise multiply disadvantaged children has been doubled.
Salgótarján will build the new nursery at a cost of 348 million forints (EUR 1.12 million), provided by the New Széchenyi Economic Development Programme. Since the town's only nursery was closed in 1999, parent associations and church initiatives have filled the gap as best as they could. The new nursery will accommodate 57 children.
Zsolt Becsó, President of the Nógrád County Council to which Salgótarján belongs, said at the ceremony that during the current government term Nógrád County had received 30 billion forints (EUR 97 million) in development subsidies.
(Ministry of Human Resources)
