Children in pre-primary schools in December 2008

More children attended pre-primary schools than ever before
In December 2008 18,278 children attended pre-primary schools, more than ever before in Iceland. The number of children increased by 717 since the previous year, or by 4.1%. This large increase can partly be explained by larger age cohorts of children of pre-primary school age. The proportion of children attending pre-primary schools has also increased, especially in the younger age cohorts. In December 2008 36.4% of children in their second year of age attended pre-primary schools compared with 30.8% in December 2007.

A decrease in the number of children with a foreign mother tongue
The number of children with another mother tongue than Icelandic has increased every year since the start of the data collection on pre-primary schools by Statistics Iceland in 1998. Now, for the first time since 1998, the number of children with a foreign mother tongue decreases. In December 2008, 1,521 children had a foreign mother tongue, a decrease of 61 since December 2007. The proportion of children with a foreign mother tongue decreased at the same time from 9.0% to 8.3%. This decrease is only taking place in the countryside, as the number of pre-primary school children with a foreign mother tongue increased by five in the Capital region. In spite of this decrease, the number of children speaking Polish increased by 73, from 328 to 401 children.

Fewer children receive special support than in 2007
In December 2008, 934 children received special support because of a handicap or social or emotional difficulties, a total of 5.1% of all pre-school children. This is a decrease of 278 children from the previous year. In December 2007 there were an unusually high number of children who received special support, or 6.9% of all pre-school children. The number of children receiving special support in 2008 is similar as in 2002-2006, when 901-1,081 children received support. The proportion of children receiving support is lower than in those years due to the increase of pre-primary school children during this period. This is the smallest proportion of pre-school children receiving special support since 1999.

The proportion of children in private pre-primary schools continues to increase
There were 276 pre-primary schools operating in December 2008. A total of 238 were run by the municipalities while 38 were privately run. A total of 2,366 children attended private pre-primary schools in December 2008, an increase of 191 children from the previous year, or 8.8%.