In this thesis, importance of early childhood education and care (hereinafter: ECEC) financing and financing accessibility, legal overview, and financing system in Slovenia and EU member states will be presented. The purpose is to present how much do countries spend on ECEC, where does the funding come from, and therefore complement some previous surveys. Furthermore, the purpose is to obtain opinions and findings in regard to ECEC from practice, and therefore present the most important obstacles and problems in the discussed area.
The goal is to analyse ECEC financing systems in-details, and evaluate Slovenia’s position in Europe. Quantitative method is used for comparison of ECEC public and private expenditures in Slovenia and Austria using the latest official statistical data, and places the Slovenian model into European space. Interviews with kindergarten management provide opinions and views of the topic from practice, and serve as a baseline for possible improvements.
Slovenian ECEC expenditure is substantially higher compared to EU and OECD countries averages, as well as percentage of private expenditures for ECEC. In practice, the problem is in great differences in program prices between different municipalities, which are set independently by each municipality.
The analysed data and conclusions can serve as a basis for further research and additional problem identification on this research field. Results can also be useful to legislation makers in the field of ECEC for legislation changes, as well as to people who are thinking of founding a private kindergarten.
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