The President of the Government of the Azores considers that “we live at a time that requires a high priority in productive investment that generates employment” and that “we should continue to undertake with courage and competence the economic policies designed to reverse the growing trend of unemployment, which is expected to increase slightly this year.” But, according to Carlos César, “the effort dedicated to the support of families, the education of children and youngsters, and the assistance to the elderly cannot be dissociated from our most important concerns.”
The President of the Government spoke on Tuesday at the opening of the Day Nursery and Kindergarten at the “Casa do Povo” of Terra Chã in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo. For Carlos César, the opening of another equipment to support Azorean families demonstrates that the Government does not forget the investments made in this area.
This support equipment has a capacity for sixty nursery age children and twenty-five kindergarten children. It is investment of about one million and two hundred thousand Euros that reinforces the important network of social services that the Government has been installing in the Azores.
The e of kindergartens in the context of IPSS (private social solidarity institutions) has significantly contributed to the expansion of the preschool network. In fourteen years, the Region has increased from one hundred and twenty-two social equipments, in the area of early childhood, to a total of three hundred and nine, representing an increase in the number of children covered by these measures, from 4,071 to 11,497children.
In addition, the Azorean Government has currently several ongoing works in the Region in the area of childhood.
Day nurseries and kindergartens, being social responses addressed at early childhood, are not just a mere place where children are taken care of. They play a fundamental role in their development, not only providing protection and socio-educational activities, but also other activities in the area of early intervention, cooperating with families throughout the entire educational process.
“Taking into account that these experiences in the first years of life are extremely important for the emotional and mental development as well as for the development of the motor and mental skills of children, the Government will continue to invest in educational quality in order to ensure a healthy education of our younger generations,” concluded Carlos César.