After years of waiting, the Municipality of Tearce finally has its first kindergarten. The new building in the village of Pršovce has room for 147 children up to the age of six, who will be looked after by 12 staff for now, with more hires announced. Of the children, 20 are ethnic Macedonians.

Construction cost just over 800,000 euros. The bulk came from the European Commission through its pre-accession assistance programme, while the Municipality of Tearce contributed 165,000 euros. The building has a ground floor and an upper floor, with ten activity rooms.

The opening was attended by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Social Policy Minister Gjoko Velkovski, mayor Daut Memishi and EU Ambassador Michalis Rokas. Mickoski used the occasion to remind everyone that since the government was elected in June 2024, "more than half a billion euros have been reallocated from the central budget to the municipalities" - something that, in his words, "has never happened before in the history of the state".

Velkovski, for his part, announced that 37 kindergartens should be completed by the end of 2028 and that more than 3,700 children will get a place in childcare, which, he says, will clear the waiting lists in Macedonia.

The kindergarten is good news for families in Tearce, and nobody can take that away. But when Brussels pays most of the bill and the event is mostly about the government's achievements, it is worth asking: how many of the 37 promised kindergartens will be built with domestic money, and how many will sit waiting for the next European grant?