Pre-school education in Slovenia is provided by both public and private kindergartens. The key player in establishing a kindergarten, both public and private, is the municipality. The municipality acts as the founder and financier of public kindergartens and approves the prices of preschool education programs. In addition to the establishment of a public kindergarten, the municipality may grant a concession to a private kindergarten if it meets the necessary conditions. All conditions for the operation of a kindergarten are determined in the Kindergartens Act of the Republic of Slovenia. Pre-school education is financed from municipal budgets, parental payments and other sources. When setting the price of a kindergarten program, the Rules on the methodology for setting the prices of kindergarten programs are taken into account. Parental remuneration is determined by the Center for Social Work on the basis of the property of the parents, which classifies them into income classes. The municipality co-finances part of the price of the kindergarten program in both public and private programs. The key elements in setting the price of the program of each kindergarten are the cost of labor, the cost of materials and services, and the cost of food for children.
The diploma thesis presents the differences between public and private kindergartens and kindergartens with a concession, with an emphasis on the methodology of pricing the care of preschool children. The results of the diploma thesis show that the greatest cost in setting the price of kindergarten is the cost of labor of employees. The higher the number of children enrolled, the lower the price of kindergarten, as all three design elements are divided by the number of children. Research has shown that it pays more for a municipality to grant a concession than to build kindergartens. The reason is that the investment costs do not fall into the price of the program, but fall entirely on the founder of the kindergarten. Thus, from the point of view of granting concessions, the municipality is saved from these investment costs.
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