Constanza Sanchez
La Rioja Government President, Gonzalo Capellán, along with the local Policy, Infrastructure, and Depopulation Fight councilors, Daniel Osés, and Education and Employment, Alberto Galiana, and Entrena’s Mayor, José Jalón, presented today, on the 19th, the project for the construction of the first Infant Education Center for 0 to 3-year-olds in the locality, with a capacity for a total of 41 children.
«This new center, which is great news for Entrena, will mean an expansion of the 0 to 3-year-old places in La Rioja, allowing our region to continue leading the national statistics with 62% of children enrolled in the first cycle of infant education, a percentage that reaches 45% in Spain and 37.5% in the European Union,» Capellán emphasized.
The La Rioja Government will mobilize a total of 932,676.534 euros, which represents 90% of the total budget for the execution of this infrastructure. This action is part of the ‘Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan – financed by the EU – Next GenerationEU’, within the ‘Promotion Program of Schooling in the First Cycle of Infant Education’ with new public ownership places. The project, promoted by the Entrena City Council, has an estimated cost of 1,036,307.26 euros.
In this way, the Autonomous Community responds to a historical demand from the municipality, which until now did not have a center of these characteristics, forcing parents to enroll their children in infant schools in other localities. This educational center will meet the needs of family conciliation, contributing to attracting young population to Entrena. It is another example of the commitment of the La Rioja Government to education for 0 to 3-year-olds, a fundamental stage in the neurocognitive development of children, as well as support for the rural areas of La Rioja.
«We were the first autonomous community to offer free education for 0 to 3-year-olds in our country, a milestone that has been added to by increasing the amount allocated to the Infant Bonus, so that all families can access this early education,» Capellán emphasized. Furthermore, «we have also promoted free dining in all public infant age centers and we continue to believe that it is important to continue improving the supply of places and infrastructure,» argued the head of the La Rioja Government.
Capellán, during his visit to the plot where the new center will be located, highlighted the «collaboration between administrations,» as well as «the involvement of the Entrena City Council» with the transfer of the plot and the contribution of 10% of the cost of the work. «When we all collaborate together with the aim of improving the educational offer, we are benefiting the young population of Entrena,» added the president.
On the other hand, the Mayor of the town, José Jalón, thanked the La Rioja Government for its collaboration in this work, which «will be key for the town» and whose objective is that «people who come to Entrena do not have to leave because they lack the necessary services.»
New accessible and functional building
The building, which will be carried out based on the technical project drafted by the Fmbdc Architects studio, will consist of two floors. The educational space will occupy the ground floor, prioritizing accessibility and functionality of the educational center’s activities, and its connection and relationship with the outside, while the first floor will house a youth library, with independent access from the ground floor.
The work will be carried out on a municipal property located between Escuelas Street (No. 15) and San Blas, connected by a pedestrian street. It is a central plot framed in an area of high activity that is located a few meters from the public school, ensuring the proper functioning of the new facilities. The plot, with an area of 980.21 m2, currently functions as a vehicle parking lot.
The building, with a useful area of 407.45 m2 between the two floors, will occupy a total area of 449.2 m2. The school will have three classrooms, one for each age group of the first cycle, as well as bathroom and toilet areas, kitchen, dining room, changing rooms, car park, management office, porch, and playground, among other facilities. The project contemplates the possibility of building one more floor in the future to accommodate other uses compatible with those planned for the center.
The First Cycle Infant Education network in La Rioja has 24 municipal nursery schools, 6 regional ones, and around 40 private educational centers, whose families benefit from the free education in this age group thanks to the Infant Bonus aid program, for which the regional Government has allocated 11.9 million euros this academic year. Currently, more than 3,500 children aged 0 to 3 are enrolled in the different educational centers in our Community.
