What age children are provided with a preschool education program?
Preschool education is provided to children from birth to 5 years of age.
What educational institutions implement a preschool education program?
The preschool education program in Kaunas is implemented by nurseries-kindergartens, kindergartens, as well as some general education schools, a list of which should be requested from the Education Department of the Kaunas City Municipality Administration.
How are children admitted to preschool education groups?
The admission procedure is established by the Kaunas City Municipality Council. When admitting children, the general principles of admission to preschool groups are applied.
What should parents (guardians) do who want to start sending their child to kindergarten?
First of all, submit an APPLICATION:
• electronically on the Kaunas City Municipality service portal https://i-darzeli.kaunas.lt.
The application indicates:
• the child's name, surname, personal identification number, declared place of residence;
• desired educational institution (indicate no more than two alternatives);
• the beginning of the school year in which the group of the educational institution is desired to be attended is September 1 (for important reasons, parents (adoptive parents, guardians) may request to change the date indicated in the application from which the group of the educational institution is desired to be attended). If there are free places in the educational institution, registration is possible even from the beginning of the school year;
• data on the priority in admitting the child to the educational institution;
• data on the parents (adoptive parents, guardians).
The application shall not be registered if incomplete or incorrect data is provided.
The admission of a child to a group of an educational institution is formalized by an education agreement signed by one of the parents (guardians) and the head of the educational institution or his authorized person.
What are the main provisions for the formation of queues?
When admitting children to groups, the principle of priority according to the date and time of registration of the parents' (guardians') application is observed.
More detailed information is provided in the description of the procedure for the centralized admission of children to budgetary schools established by the Kaunas City Municipality that implement preschool and pre-school education programs.
Groups are formed for the school year by June 1 of each year, although parents (guardians) may submit applications at any time of the year.
How many children can be in a group?
A nursery group cannot have more than 15 children, a kindergarten group cannot have more than 20 children.
How much is required to pay for kindergarten?
The fee procedure is established by the Kaunas City Municipality Council. It also provides for payment preferences.
Parents (guardians) are allowed to:
• choose the number of meals for at least a month and pay a fee based on how many hours a day the child spends in the institution, provided that the child will be fed every 3.5 hours;
• refuse catering services if the child spends no more than 4 hours a day in the educational institution.
A fee of EUR 1.00 is set for meeting educational conditions (expenses for the installation of educational spaces, common educational tools, acquisition of property, and employee salaries) for each unexcused day the child attends and does not attend.
Institutions also have the right to establish institution support funds. In this way, parents or other interested persons can voluntarily support the educational institution.
Who determines the working hours of preschool education groups?
The duration of the groups' activities is approved annually by the Head of the Education Department of the Kaunas City Municipality Administration. Usually, the needs of families and the financial capabilities of the Kaunas City Municipality are taken into account. Most groups operate for 10.5 or 12 hours per day.
Information updated 2026-03-01
