The State Secretary of the Central State Office for Demography and Youth, Zeljka Josic, on Thursday awarded 96 contracts to towns and municipalities for co-financing investment in public kindergartens with a total value of the contracts of 11 million kuna (€1.46 million), state agency Hina said on Thursday.

The public call was open to all towns and municipalities providing pre-school education, although underdeveloped areas were given priority.

Since 2016, the government has invested about 2 billion kuna (€267 million) in the construction and refurbishing of pre-school education facilities, reconstructing nearly 500 kindergartens. As a result, around 5,000 more children have been enrolled in kindergartens than before, Josic said.

The aim is to include more than 90 percent of children in kindergarten and pre-school education programs.