FARO CÂMARA has recently announced that it will begin building a new crèche and nursery in Penha.
A ceremony was held to unveil the projects at which Faro’s Câmara president, José Vitorino, gave a short presentation. It is an undertaking he considers to be “one of the most important plans we are involved in,” a project of “great social and educative importance,” he said.
The Câmara’s objective is to increase the number of places for children under three years at crèches and nurseries. Currently, the situation is of great concern with many children in Faro and the surrounding areas left without a place – there are too many children for the borough’s relatively small number of preschool establishments. Currently there are only places for 25 per cent of the borough’s under threes at crèches and spaces for just 52 per cent at nursery school. However, once the new crèche and jardim de infância (kindergarten) is built at Penha and the crèche at Horta do Ferragial is completed, the capacity percentages will increase to 45 per cent and 77 per cent respectively.
The Creche e Jardim de Infância da Penha is being built on land measuring 3,000 square metres and will comprise three activity rooms (0-1 years, 1-2 years, 2-3 years), boasting a capacity for a total of 38 children. The Jardim de Infância is divided into four activity rooms (for pre-school children aged between 3-6 years), with a capacity for 100 children. The building also includes features such as bathrooms, storerooms and cloakrooms and so on. In addition, there will be a covered outside play area with trees and a garden, divided into separate areas for the two different age groups.
The total value of this new preschool institution is 735,000 euros, of which 60 per cent is covered by European Community funding, the remainder, supported by the Câmara. The building is expected to be complete within eight months.
