Benidorm launches grants for the purchase of school supplies for students in the second cycle of early childhood education

Benidorm City Council, through the Department of Education, will provide funding again for the purchase of school supplies for students in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education registered in the city and enrolled in one of Benidorm's public and private schools, for the upcoming 2025/2026 school year. The Local Government Board approved this Monday the allocation of €72,000, as well as the terms and conditions for this call, which, for the fourth consecutive year, establishes "a grant of €63 per child; an amount with which the City Council contributes to reducing spending on supplies for families with children in this school year," stated Maite Moreno, the Councilor for the area.

Moreno emphasised that "these grants for the purchase of school supplies are part of one of the direct support programs for families promoted by the Department of Education and, probably, the one that reaches the largest number of beneficiaries." Specifically, during this 2024/2025 academic year, 1,102 individual grants were awarded, with a total expenditure of 69,426 euros, the councillor recalled.

As in previous academic years, "to simplify families' access to these grants as much as possible, the Department of Education is automatically preparing an initial batch of beneficiary students, which will include all minors born in 2020 and 2021 who already received this subsidy in the 2024/2025 academic year." This initial batch will include more than 600 minors and will be published in the coming days.

Moreno announced that "in the coming weeks, the first batch of funds will be published and approved, as well as the deadlines for collecting the vouchers. These vouchers will be distributed throughout the summer and can be redeemed at participating establishments until November 15 of this year."

The councilor also reported that, in addition to this automatic processing, students who are still in the second cycle of preschool and who did not apply for or receive the aid last year due to not meeting one of the requirements, or because it is their first year enrolling at this level, will also be able to apply for the aid at the request of a party. In the first case, the rules indicate that the application period for aid for students born in 2020 and 2021 who did not receive the grant in the previous year will be from June 1 to September 30; For children born in 2022 and starting school in September, applications must be submitted between July 1 and September 30.

Applications must be submitted online through the Benidorm City Council's Online Office at www.sede.benidorm.org, in the EDUCATION section of the Services Catalogue, selecting the "School Material Grants for the 2nd Cycle of Early Childhood Education 2025-2026 School Year" procedure. A Cl@ve identification method, digital certificate, or electronic ID card will be required. For families who have difficulty or do not have electronic means, a support point will be set up to complete the application process at the Department of Education.

Among the requirements to qualify for these grants, in addition to being enrolled in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education at one of the city's publicly funded schools, the family unit must also be registered in Benidorm before September 1, 2024.

Collaborating establishments

Likewise, as in previous years, the Education Councillor has contacted all stationery stores in the city that sell school supplies, and where applicable, books and notebooks related to the 2025-2026 Early Childhood Education curriculum, to request their membership as collaborating businesses. Once applications are received, these establishments will be included in the list of establishments where families who have received assistance can redeem the vouchers issued by the City Council.

The application for membership by interested businesses must be processed through the General Registry at Benidorm City Council's e-office before May 31st, added Maite Moreno, who invited local businesses to once again join this campaign and thanked them in advance for their collaboration.