Mayors are on alert for the management of nursery schools funded with PNRR resources, warning that they could close. Municipalities are also taking action, stating that local communities are losing a fundamental right, a problem that particularly affects children and families in Southern Italy. Concerns are growing day by day due to a possible reduction in funds allocated to management, which would undermine the objective established by the government in the 2022 budget law: to guarantee 33% coverage for nurseries by 2027. An annex to the Structural and Budget Plan 2025-2029 instead proposes a coverage of only 15% on a regional basis, making it uncertain to reach the national objective. This scenario would concern approximately three-quarters of the nurseries financed with PNRR resources, since according to table A VI.4 of the Budget Plan, it is necessary to ensure that childcare services have places available equal to at least 15% of children under three years of age at regional level, while the national figure is set at 33%.

Giovanna Bruno, vice president of Ali and mayor of Andria, points out that the 2022 budget law established a 33% availability of places on a local basis to eliminate territorial inequalities in access to nursery schools. With the new annex to the Structural Budget Plan, the right to nursery school will no longer be guaranteed at 33% at a national level, but at 15% at a regional level, creating an even greater gap between North and South. The EducAzioni Network criticizes the decrease in the percentage of coverage of services at a national level, arguing that this would not only hinder the achievement of European objectives but would amplify existing inequalities, penalizing children from the South and from already disadvantaged internal areas.

Irene Manzi of the PD complains about the lack of responses from the Meloni government to the concerns expressed. According to her, the Plan presents a clear halving of the objective of the previous budget law. Simona Malpezzi also highlights how the Draghi government’s financial plan included a progressive increase in resources for nursery schools. If we are now talking about a reduced coverage of 15%, one wonders where the funds needed to manage nursery schools have gone. Finally, the Fp Cgil warns that there is a concrete risk of a reduction in funding for educational services and calls for the urgent implementation of an extraordinary plan to guarantee adequate coverage of childcare services by 2030.