Zagreb kindergartens have 1,200 places available at the start of September

Zagreb begins the new pedagogical year with 1,200 open kindergarten places, including 800 in city-run facilities. Places are also available in nurseries, and Deputy Mayor Danijela Dolenec said parents who currently need a place can enroll their children.

Nearly 8,000 children have enrolled in Zagreb kindergartens this year. The city said 7,962 children had been registered after a further 162 joined during the summer, calling the enrollment result the best in the capital in many years.

City officials attributed the available capacity to a strong investment cycle covering the construction, expansion and renovation of kindergartens. Zagreb has opened 18 new facilities so far, with the newest, in Borovje, beginning operations the previous week. The city expects the number of new kindergartens to reach 20 by the end of the year.

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This means that all parents in Zagreb who currently need a place in a kindergarten can enroll their child.

The city allocated 317 million euros to early and preschool education in 2026, more than twice the amount allocated in 2021. Dolenec said the administration would continue investing so parents could find places closer to home and existing facilities could be modernized. The city also said it is taking measures to keep kindergarten fees among the lowest in Croatia.

Overall investment by the current city administration in schools and kindergartens totals 500 million euros across 58 projects: 24 kindergartens, 24 primary schools and 10 secondary schools and student residences. Forty projects are complete, nine are under construction and nine are awaiting contractor procurement.

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We are proud of these advances in the availability and quality of Zagreb’s kindergartens, but we will continue investing.