More children attended pre-primary schools than ever before
Statistics Iceland has published new data on children in pre-primary schools in December 2005. In December 2005 16,864 children attended pre-primary schools, more than ever before in Iceland. The number of children increased by 109 (0.65%) since the previous year. This is a greater increase than between the years 2003 and 2004 when the increase was 0.4%.

A continuing increase in the number of children with a foreign mother tongue
The number of children with another mother tongue than Icelandic has increased year by year and now 1,250 children, 7.4% of all children attending pre-primary school, have another mother tongue than Icelandic. Children speaking Polish are most numerous (189 children) and English is the second most spoken language (159 children). In compulsory schools the corresponding figure is 3.6% in autumn 2005. In December 2005 275 children attending pre-primary schools were foreign citizens. Most of these children are from Eastern Europe (51.6%).

Fewer children receive special support
In December 2005 907 children received special support because of a handicap or social or emotional difficulties, a total of 5.4% of all pre-school children. The number of children receiving special support decreased from the previous year for the second consecutive year. The decrease from December 2004 is 77 children. Since 2003 the number of children receiving special support has decreased by 174 children, or by 16.1%.

The number of pre-primary schools is unchanged from 2004
There were 262 pre-primary schools operating in December 2005, the same number as in December 2004. There were 4 pre-primary schools founded this year while 4 pre-primary schools have ceased operating or have merged with other schools. A total of 1,542 children attended 28 private pre-primary schools, an increase from 1,492 children the previous year, or 3.35%. There were 20 schools open all year, which is a similar number as in 2004. It is now most common for pre-primary schools to close for 1-2 weeks during the summer for a summer vacation, which is a change from the previous year when most schools were closed for 3-4 weeks. It is common for a child attending pre-primary school to take a continuous vacation for 4 weeks. This year parents had a greater choice in the timing of their child’s summer vacation than in 2004.

The smallest pre-primary school has 5 children
Pre-primary schools vary greatly in size and the smallest ones only have a few children attending. The pre-primary school with the smallest number of children is Glaumbær in Borgarfjörður eystri in Eastern Iceland, where 5 children attend pre-primary school. A total of 24 pre-primary schools have fewer than 20 children. The largest pre-primary schools have between one and two hundred children. The largest ones are Stekkjarás in Hafnarfjörður and Krakkakot in Bessastaðahreppur. There are 167 children attending each of these pre-primary schools. There are 100 children or more attending 37 pre-primary schools in Iceland.