Municipal kindergartens in Latvia to open up 601 new spots for children

Latvian Cabinet of Ministers has approved the list submitted by Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) containing municipal investment projects for the construction of new kindergartens and expansion of new ones. The suggestion from the ministry also includes allocation of budget loans.
Six investment projects are to receive state aid – EUR 11.52 million.
In accordance to the decision made by the Cabinet of Ministers on 14 December 2021, municipalities submitted investment project suggestions to VARAM for the construction of new pre-school institution or expansion of existing ones.
The ministry evaluated the submitted requests and sent the government six of them. Implementation of those projects will require a loan from the state budget worth a total of EUR 11 522 000.
Ogre will receive a loan for two projects – construction of a new pre-school education institution in Lielvārde and reconstruction of Kaibala School into a kindergarten. In Ropaži it is planned to provide a loan from the state budget to finance the establishment of a kindergarten over at Upesleja, Skolas Street 12, Stopiņi, as well as the construction of a new pre-school education facility on Veselības Street 7. Liepāja municipality will be provided a loan for the construction of a pre-school education facility on Liedaga Street 6. Loans will be provided over a course of three years – EUR 2 842 764.04 in 2022, EUR 7 839 235.96 in 2023 and EUR 840 000 in 2024.
«Compared to data from 1 October 2020, when these loans first became accessible for municipalities, the queue of municipalities has become 22% smaller. This affirms that state budget loans for the construction of expansion of kindergartens represent an effective solution to help improve accessibility of pre-school education in municipalities,» said minister Artūrs Toms Plešs.
In 2020 and 2021 state budget loans were provided to 23 investment projects. The total amount of state support was EUR 39 643 322.22.