This chapter gives an overview of financial or material support measures for pupils in different countries and their effectiveness in securing equal opportunities for children from economically disadvantaged families. The aim is to identify the various strategies, to make cross-national comparisons, to analyse some critical issues, and to describe examples of good practice which may be transferable to other member states.

In summarising the existing financial/material support measures, a distinction is made between:

• • pre-school education level (nursery schools or daycare centres);

• • the compulsory education level, which lasts for 9 to 12 years (primary and lower (sometimes also upper) secondary education level – see chapter 7);

• • the post-compulsory secondary education level (mostly between the ages of 16 and 19); and

• • higher education.

A description of material and financial support measures

Pre-school level

The degree to which pre-school education is organised at national level varies widely from country to country (see Chapter 6). For this reason, support measures for children of less well-off parents can also vary widely, as can their general applicability. The first question, then, is: which countries have a national system of pre-school education, and is this free? Second, we come to the question of the extent to which special facilities exist for children from disadvantaged families.

As a general rule, it can be said that daycare services (for children aged 0-3 or 4) are not free; parents usually pay a contribution in proportion to their income. Nursery education, by contrast (organised by the Ministries of Education) is usually free, at least in principle. The discussion below is limited to nursery education; an analysis of the financial aspects of daycare would require a separate study.

Non means-tested support

Flanders has a highly developed pre-school education system (from the age of 2½); the law guarantees that this education is free to parents, although it is not compulsory. This means that no enrolment fees are payable and that all school facilities are free in principle. In practice, however, parents’ expenses for transport, school trips, and so on, equal a yearly contribution, expressed in 1998 prices, of approximately 125 Euros per pupil, or 10% of the total educational costs (Van Hooreweghe et al, 1989).