It had been twenty-one years since new nursery schools had been built in the city, since 2003, when the new structure in Campagnola was inaugurated. With the over 8 million made available by the Pnrr (for a total expenditure of 9 million and 719 thousand euros, with the co-financing of the Municipality of Bergamo)in three years we will recover what has not been done, demolishing and rebuilding five structures: by 2026, the neighborhoods of Villaggio degli Sposi, Valtesse, Malpensata, Boccaleone and Longuelo will have a new nursery. But there is an unknown regarding the funds for their management, because the 140 additional places created in the new structures generate an increase in costs for the Municipality of Bergamo. A figure which, considering the 17 new educators who will have to be employed, the municipal administration has estimated at around 680 thousand euros per year. A cost that is added to the 7.5 million euros of average annual expenditure (7 million and 577 thousand in 2023) for the “nursery” service, an item that includes staff salaries, utilities and ordinary maintenance .
A situation that causes concern at Palazzo Frizzoni, because «for now, no funding has arrived from the government and the costs of the service are only covered for 20% by the fees paid by families, the remaining 80% is in charge of the municipal administration” reports the education councilor Loredana Poli. In recent days there has been news of a 734.9 million euro tender for the activation of 27 thousand new “nursery” places at a national level, a ceiling made available by the Ministry of Education and Merit following the creation by the Municipalities of new nursery schools, thanks to Pnrr funds: «But we were excluded because we do not have the requirements, given that we are not a metropolitan city – states councilor Poli –. We were also excluded from the ministry’s previous tender, because we exceeded the coverage target of 33% at a European level (of nursery places, 33 for every 100 children, ed.). We hope that European funds can still be used for the management of nursery schools, because otherwise we are faced with a problem: the government does not provide funding to Municipalities for services for children aged 0 to 3 years because these services are not included in the system national. As regards the opening of the nursery at Villaggio degli Sposi, scheduled for September, we are good to go. The openings of the other four nurseries will be staggered during 2025 and perhaps, for the Longuelo nursery, the last construction site to be started, in the first months of 2026. We will therefore be able to guarantee the openings, gradually increasing the funds to cover the service ».
The Municipality of Bergamo manages 17 facilities dedicated to children (from 0 to 3 years). Of these, 14 are nurseries (of which two, in Redona and Colognola, are private but affiliated), two are “children’s centres” and one is the micro-nursery “house” in the Galgario park. With the new 140 places added to the 615 currently available, the offer in the city rises to 755 places. The European Union has set a new objective in terms of service coverage, to be achieved by 2030, of 45% (the “old” European target was 33 percent), an objective which will be achieved in advance by the Municipality of Bergamo. Councilor Poli explains further: «Currently the coverage in the city is 39%, higher than the Lombard average of 12 points. With the 140 new nursery places, by the end of 2026, we will reach 45 percent.”
But in addition to the economic problem, Councilor Poli, who presides over the regional department of Anci (national association of Italian municipalities) on Education and School Buildings, poses another question. Related to human resources: «Anci has made an estimate at a national level, calculating that to cover all the nursery places financed in Italy with the Pnrr, 47 thousand nursery school educators will be needed. But considering the current students enrolled in the three-year degree course in Educational Sciences, in three years there will not be that number of graduates available, furthermore today it is already difficult to identify these figures. Anci has opened discussions with the Ministry of the University, but is still waiting for a response.”
Meanwhile, the Municipality proceeds with the maxi-operation of demolition and reconstruction of five nursery schools that were built in the 1960s. The first to be inaugurated is the Villaggio degli Sposi nursery, in September. Followed, in the first months of 2025, by that of Valtesse, «ll Bruco verde» in via Biava (both construction sites were entrusted to the Casaviva di Capriolo company). This will be followed by the inaugurations, during 2025, of the «I Coriandoli» nursery in via Mozart in Malpensata and «Il Ciliegio» in via Isabello in Boccaleone. The latest in chronological order is Longuelo’s nursery, «L’erba I want» in via Toscanini, whose opening could be postponed to the first months of 2026 (these three construction sites have been entrusted to Iozzino construction of Salerno, the company that completed the work on the Fara car park). The Municipality of Bergamo is studying the methods of opening and inserting children: «We will certainly take advantage of the breaks during the year, such as the Christmas holidays or the summer holidays – mentions councilor Poli -. Once the work is finished, the educators will have to take care of the setup, so they will have to do it when they are not busy with normal activities with the children. We will do everything gradually.”
