The central municipality union KEDE has warned the Ministry of Interior that about 30,000 children will not find a spot in municipal nurseries in September.

The Ministry of Interior claims that 70,000 spots are necessary, while KEDE notes that over 100,000 applications are expected by Monday, the 4th of August, when the deadline expires.

According to KEDE, the sustained unemployment and change in income criteria have prompted an increase of applications. KEDE’s social policy officer S. Danielidis told Ethnos that in 2013 there 96,000 applications were submitted, of which 75,000 were valid and 71,000 children found a place in a nursery.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Growth Odysseas Konstantinopoulos sated that the government is prepared to divert unallocated European funds to cover the needs of families that comply with nursery criteria. Last year about 160 million euros of European funds were allocated to nurseries.