Two tuition schemes offering subsidies for kindergartens and nurseries were approved on Wednesday by the cabinet.

The budget for the tuition subsidies is estimated to be €22 million and a total of 25,000 children will benefit from their implementation.

The first project concerns the subsidy of tuition fees and the provision of food for children up to four years for the 2025-26 school years. The tuition aid will cover 80 per cent of kindergarten costs for families receiving child benefits.

The cabinet also approved a tuition subsidy plan for children from four years old to the age of free compulsory preschool education, which is four years and five months old, for the same school year.

The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare Marilena Evangelou said that more information on the matter will be announced by the ministry.

“With the plan approved, all families, with four year olds to four years and five months old children are eligible, regardless of the criteria.”

The minister added that one of the ministry’s goals for 2025 is to expand the beneficiaries of the children’s allowance to cover the entire middle class.

“This expansion means that more beneficiaries can simultaneously join the child tuition and feeding plan.”