Purpose
The Danish ECEC system provides families with high quality, flexibility and a variety of options regarding the types of facilities and subsidies that enable each family to plan and balance family and working life according to their specific needs and wishes.
High quality ECEC allows more women to re-enter the work force and helps to ensure gender equality.
ECEC facilities aim to promote children’s learning and their development of competencies through experiences, play and educationally planned activities that give the children room for contemplation, exploration and experience.
The purpose of ECEC is also, in cooperation with the parents, to ensure coherence and a meaningful transition to school life by developing, supporting and stimulating the basic competencies of children and their desire to learn.
The ECEC system plays an important role in preventing negative social heredity through the general work of supporting children, including disadvantaged and disabled children.
The Act on Day Care Facilities provides a guarantee for equal access to an ECEC facility for all children below the school age.
Guaranteed ECEC availability means that the local council must offer places in an age-appropriate ECEC facility to all children older than 26 weeks and until they reach school age.
The vast majority of children in Denmark (approximately nine out of ten) between one and five years attend a publicly supported ECEC facility.