Government objectives for day-care policy include enabling all parents who choose to do so to enrol their children in high-quality, low-cost day-care programmes. Good day-care facilities are a pivotal factor in the participation of parents in the workforce. Good day-care facilities are also important in the context of lifelong learning, and are viewed as a voluntary start to a child’s education. Day-care institutions in Norway are educational institutions, and must comply with established national standards regarding pedagogical content. Day-care programmes are meaningful in a preventative context and provide an arena for early integration children of different ethnic backgrounds, languages and cultures. Day-care programmes also help to promote social equality.
The overall responsibility for meeting day-care needs lies with the municipal authorities, who are also in charge of monitoring compliance with existing legislation. The State provides grants for the establishment and operation of day-care institutions, and all institutions are eligible for funding. There are currently not enough public day-care facilities to meet the demand, and non-municipal day-care institutions provide 56% of the total number of places available on a national basis. Emphasis is placed on ensuring quality and diversity in the type of programmes available, so as to meet parents’ needs and wishes with regard to number of hours per week, group size and educational content.
Each municipality is responsible for creating a framework for a joint application process for admission to its municipal and non-municipal day-care facilities. A national maximum price scheme for participation in day-care programmes has been adopted and is being introduced gradually. As from 1 January 2006, the price of enrolment in an ordinary day-care institution is not to exceed NOK 2,250 per month.
The statutory provisions pertaining to Norwegian day-care institutions are set out in the Day-Care Institutions Act of 2005. The goals, quality requirements and main principles for the educational component of day-care programmes are established in regulations relating to specific framework plan for content and tasks drawn up by the Ministry of Education and Research.
At the end of 2005, approximately 76% of all children aged 1-5 were enrolled in day-care programmes. It is a government objective to provide day-care programmes for all parents seeking enrolment for their children by the year 2007.
By the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research