95 per cent of EU children were in pre‑primary education

Brussels – In 2024, 95 per cent of children aged between 3 and the compulsory starting age for primary education in European Union countries were enrolled in pre-primary education. The EU average in 2014 stood at 91.2 per cent. The lowest enrolment rates in 2024 were recorded in Romania (76.5 per cent), Slovakia (81.8 per cent), and the Czech Republic (86.4 per cent). The data, released by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), showed that Italy is just below the European average at 94 per cent, but 2 percentage points lower than in 2015. The strategic European Education Areaframework aims to ensure that at least 96 per cent of children in the EU are enrolled in early childhood education and care by 2030.

The average, however, drops sharply in the countries applying for EU membership. According to figures provided by the Statistical Office, 79.5 per cent of children in Serbia are enrolled in nursery school, and 78.6 per cent in Montenegro. The percentages are even lower for North Macedonia and Turkey, at 48.3 per cent and 55 per cent, respectively.

Furthermore, Eurostat data shows that in 2024, 95.1 per cent of the teaching staff in pre-school education were women. The highest proportions of female teachers were recorded in Romania (99.7 per cent), Slovakia (99.6 per cent), and Hungary (99.5 per cent). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had already highlighted this figure in the 2023 Education at a Glance report. “The gender imbalance of teaching staff in ECE (early childhood education, ed.) raises questions as to why women are much more likely to enter the profession and what the implications are for the understanding of gender among children, staff and society,” the report states. Governments in several OECD countries have made efforts in recent years to attract more men to the sector, the organisation notes, “very slow progress has been made towards greater male representation since 2013.”