Child care subsidy for kids under 4 now open for applications

The Child Tuition and Feeding Subsidy Scheme, designed to provide support for parents of young children up to 4 years old, has officially launched its application process on Monday, August 28, 2023. Parents of eligible children can now apply for participation in the scheme through a dedicated online platform.

The application process is exclusively electronic, accessible through either the government portal www.gov.cy or the YMCA's website at www.wbas.dmsw.gov.cy. To ensure timely processing, parents are encouraged to apply online within the first month of each desired participation period.

Notably, applications submitted by September 30 will secure the full subsidy for the entirety of September. Submissions after this date will still be accepted, but approved grants will be effective from the beginning of the month in which the application is received.

Already, a surge of 3122 applications from eligible children have been submitted and granted approval since the platform's launch.

The application process is streamlined and requires no documentation. Parents are eligible if they receive the Child Benefit for 2023 and have pre-enrolled their eligible child in a participating nursery or preschool, along with the provision of the child's unique six-digit class/section identification number assigned by the educational institution.

To access the application platform, parents must have an active profile on the government portal www.gov.cy or the ARIADNI Portal. The application process includes providing essential information such as the child's identification number, hours of attendance, registration and enrollment dates, final monthly fees, parent's mobile phone number, and email address.

For further details, interested parties can refer to the "Frequently Asked Questions" section on the YMCA website: https://bit.ly/3wLpo2P.

Moreover, the list of approved daycare and preschool providers participating in the Tuition and Feeding Subsidy Scheme has been published on the Welfare Benefits Management Service of the Ministry of Social Welfare's website. A total of 303 approved institutions are featured, and the list is continually updated with the inclusion of new applicants who have undergone the approval process.

The Child Tuition and Feeding Subsidy Scheme is expected to contribute positively to the financial relief of parents with young children and promote access to quality early childhood education and care.