About ten years ago, Rae Municipality began subsidizing private childcare centers for children who couldn't get a spot in a municipal kindergarten due to a shortage of places. However, the number of children has since declined and a new kindergarten opened in the municipality last year, easing the shortage. As a result, Rae now plans to scale back its cooperation with the private sector.

"Today we have 14 kindergartens, which means we no longer need additional spots. Demographics have also shifted — whereas Rae used to see about 500 births a year, now it's around 250. Smaller generations were born in the 1990s and that means there's no baby boom expected in the next 14 years. In some areas, our kindergartens are already half-empty," said Rae Mayor Gerli Lehe (Isamaa).

According to Mari Kummer, head of the Estonian Association of Childcare Providers, several municipalities are moving in the same direction and ending partnerships with private childcare providers. Without municipal support, a private kindergarten spot could cost between €600 and €700 per month — unaffordable for many parents, which could lead to private centers shutting down.

"This decision essentially monopolizes early childhood education. Only municipal kindergartens will remain, private childcare will disappear and parents will be left with no real choice. They'll have to either accept a municipal spot or nothing—there'll be no option to choose a pedagogical approach, like Montessori or nature-based childcare, which municipal kindergartens don't offer," Kummer said.

Lehe noted that Rae Municipality would still retain the discretion to support certain private kindergartens if necessary. The need for kindergarten spots has also decreased in Tartu. Compared to 2020, the city now has about 500 fewer places and eight kindergarten groups have been closed. Tartu, however, plans to continue its cooperation with the private sector.

"Unfortunately, the birth rate has declined and there are fewer children entering kindergartens. We're seeing that this trend is continuing and even deepening in the years ahead. We're not looking to change our existing cooperation with the private sector, but we'll need to make adjustments across the whole network. With fewer children, we'll definitely have to close some groups and align capacity with actual numbers," said Tartu Deputy Mayor Priit Humal (Isamaa).

At the same time, Humal noted that Tartu also collaborates with neighboring municipalities and children from outside the city attend its kindergartens. For example, Kambja Municipality is seeing a rise in its child population and will need more kindergarten spots.

Maila Rajamets, head of early childhood education at the Ministry of Education and Research, said local governments should consider cooperation and reorganizing work before closing kindergartens.

"One option is placing fewer children in each group, which professional organizations have long advocated. Another is creating opportunities to support children with special educational needs, potentially through separate groups. That would give more flexibility. I don't think closing kindergartens should be the first step," Rajamets said.

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