Education and Ingenio sign an agreement for early schooling

The Department of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ingenio City Council have signed a cooperation agreement to manage non-competitive grants aimed at promoting early schooling. The agreement, signed in the Canary Islands on September 21, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Boletín Oficial de Canarias) no. 201, dated October 7, 2026, by resolution of the General Technical Secretariat on September 25, 2026 (official reference boc-a-2026-201-3466). The agreement affects families with children aged 0 to 3 enrolled in municipal preschools and authorized private centers.

Regulatory framework and origin of the agreement

The agreement develops the “Child Voucher” (Bono infantil) aid program, whose regulatory bases, of indefinite validity, were approved by Order No. 519, of July 22, 2024, and modified by Order No. 1378, of November 19, 2025. The sixth base establishes that municipal schools and private centers act as collaborating entities, a status that requires formalizing an agreement with the granting body in accordance with Article 16.1 of the General Subsidies Law 38/2003, of November 17.

The call was issued by Order of the Counselor of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports on March 27, 2026, in which the Ingenio City Council was proposed as a collaborating entity. The agreement is signed by Counselor Hipólito Alejandro Suárez Nuez and Mayor-President Vanesa Belén Martín Herrera, authorized by agreement of the Local Government Board on September 11, 2026.

The included center and its validity

The cooperation applies to a single center:

• EEI El Carrizal, with center code 35015361 and 70 authorized places.

The agreement enters into force on the day of its signing and has a duration of two years, extendable by mutual agreement without exceeding six years in total. Once published, it must be registered in the General Electronic Registry of Public Sector Agreements of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands within fifteen business days.

Obligations, deadlines and financing

The collaborating entity must receive applications from families, review them within five business days, process them within the same period, and rectify them within a maximum of ten business days. It will also certify student attendance monthly and communicate enrollments and withdrawals within ten business days.

Within ten calendar days of receiving the funds, the center will deduct the granted amount from the invoices or refund the fees already paid. The Department will transfer the funds in three installments—the first being an advance for the period from September to March—and will pay within twenty days of the act of granting or justification. Justification will take place in January and July. The center will not receive any financial compensation for its participation.

Monitoring, reimbursement, and personal data

A Joint Monitoring Commission is created, consisting of two representatives from the Department and two from the signing center, chaired by one of the regional representatives, which will prepare an annual report and a final memorandum. Reimbursement is the responsibility of the General Directorate for Center Administration, Schooling, and Complementary Services, with a statute of limitations of four years.

The agreement includes a personal data processing mandate (Annex I) to manage aid for students aged 0 to 3, including data on the minors and their family units, and requires requesting a negative certificate from the Central Registry of Sexual Offenders for staff with regular contact with minors.

The agreement guarantees the continuity of the “Child Voucher” (Bono infantil) in Ingenio and sets specific deadlines for families to receive the discount on the fees for their children aged 0 to 3.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 201, of October 7, 2026, section III. Other Resolutions, pp. 36305-36322 (official reference: boc-a-2026-201-3466).