News - 09.02.2026

The Missing Piece in the Appeal from Preschool Principals in Reykjavík

In a letter from preschool principals to the Reykjavík city authorities dated 3 February this year, disappointment is expressed that the so-called Reykjavík approach to preschool affairs did not come into effect at the turn of the year. Nothing is said to have moved forward in terms of receiving measures from the city after it concluded agreements with the trade unions of preschool employees on a shorter working week. Preschool principals, teachers and assistants are leaving for other municipalities, where the challenges have been addressed with greater resolve.

The appeal from preschool management for action is justified. Even in preschools that are well staffed, very little can go wrong before the organisation collapses, and it can come down to minutes. The term military-style planning has been used for far less.

However, it is also a matter of responsibility to call for proposals to be pushed through that involve risky fundamental changes to public preschools. The Reykjavík approach is, in fact, based on forcing parents, through financial penalties and income-linking, to shorten their children’s length of stay. Costly registration days and registration hours increase both the mental and financial burden on parents, who are already going through one of the most sensitive periods of their lives.

The Grass Is Greener in the Other Municipalities

There are examples of municipalities that have, with moderation and caution, changed preschool organisation to meet the challenges resulting from the shortening of the working week. However, there are more that have done the opposite, pushing through poorly thought-out changes that cause harm wherever they land. In Kópavogur, parents describe dissatisfaction, pressure and stress, mothers more so than fathers. In Akureyri, the number of parents of preschool children among those needing food assistance at Christmas increased after changes to preschool fees and services were implemented against the protests of the main trade unions in the area. Income-linking means that parents who need extra income, for example to manage Christmas expenses, cannot take on additional work, as preschool fees then rise accordingly.

Then there are all the individual cases. The single mother who worked as a supervisor in a small municipality when it was decided to close preschools at 2 p.m. one day a week. She was simply told that she could choose between her job and picking up her child. The grandmother who is no longer able to spend time with her grandchildren on her own terms because she has taken on the role of collecting them from preschool several times a week so that her daughter and son-in-law can make everyday life work, practically and financially. The woman who applied for a job with her municipality and requested working hours that would allow her to pay manageable preschool fees in the same municipality, and was flatly refused. Last week I spoke with a man of foreign origin who works in a private company and whose wife works at Landspítali. They examined Reykjavík City’s proposals and realised that she would have to reduce her working hours, precisely at the workplace where staffing challenges are greatest. This is what the greener grass on the other side actually looks like in reality.

Military-Style Planning Brought into the Home

Preschools are important educational and upbringing institutions, and preschool principals deserve full support in strengthening those aspects of their operations. But the existence of preschools can never be separated from society and the labour market. Preschools are also a place where children stay while parents are at work, and thus a fundamental prerequisite for high labour market participation and gender equality. The fundamental changes that are taking place in preschool services in many municipalities can have wide-ranging societal effects. The majority of trade unions in the country have warned against these changes, both because of their direct impact on their members and because of their broader societal consequences. Unfortunately, too many municipal councils have not heeded those warnings, and it is crucial that Reykjavík City does not fall into the same trap.

It is nothing new for preschools to be open more hours per week than employees work. At one time there were preschools that were open twelve hours a day, and not long ago preschools in Reykjavík were generally open until 5 p.m. This brings us to the key issue in the appeal from preschool principals, what should be the main focus: that preschools be able to staff themselves in line with children’s length of stay, rather than shortening children’s stay with the aforementioned consequences. Because all that does is shift the pressure and the military-style planning from the shoulders of preschool management directly onto the shoulders of parents. To claim that this is in the best interests of children is absurd; the interests and wellbeing of children can never be separated from the interests and wellbeing of their parents.

A Breach of Collective Agreements

The fundamental changes that have taken place in the operation of preschools have all occurred between elections. No political party went into elections with plans to change preschool services and sharply raise preschool fees. On the contrary, municipalities committed themselves, in connection with the collective agreements signed in 2024, not to increase the burden on families with children. Furthermore, the intention was to improve the lives of families with children during the term of the collective agreements, among other things by bridging the gap between parental leave and preschool. The rising preschool fee schedules of municipalities are a breach of the collective agreements and a betrayal of families with children in Iceland.

VR is the largest trade union of parents of children in Iceland, and we have submitted well-considered comments on the Reykjavík approach. We also requested a meeting with the group that worked on the proposals but were only allowed to meet part of it. Rarely have I experienced such poor listening and near disrespect towards the VR members whose interests were at stake. We were criticised for not presenting proposals for improvements alongside our criticism, which we in fact did, and when we requested data in order to be able to put forward proposals, we were first told that it was only for experts to review, and then that it would be sent to us, which never happened. It was clear that the interests of working parents and existing collective agreements had been taken into account to little, if any, extent by elected representatives.

City councillors bear great responsibility. Elections are just around the corner, and many of them have little or weakened mandates. The demand from preschool principals that the city push through fundamental changes to preschools in Reykjavík just before elections is both unfair and undemocratic. Their demand for action, however, has always been fair, and we in VR stand with it. And if the city authorities have managed to find solutions that take the position of parents into account and do not threaten public preschools, then we will be the first to support them.

Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Leader of VR

The article was first published on visir.is on 8 February 2026.