The next time you go to work, you might be able to take your toddler with you.

The Jordanian government is working on making life easier for working parents who don’t have the luxury of hiring a nanny, enrolling their toddlers in a kindergarten or leaving them with a family member until they’re home.

At least 1,500 children under the age of four will get the opportunity to enroll - free of charge - at a kindergarten at their mother’s workplace. The nursery school project is part of an initiative initiated and implemented by the National Council for Family Affairs.

Haitham Al Zoubi, the project’s manager, told Al Ghad newspaper that the Council has signed an agreement to build 38 kindergartens at private and public sector companies, each with the capacity to take care of 40 children.

“Eleven kindergartens have already been opened, creating 61 jobs in total and serving 263 children,” Al Zoubi said.

Al Zoubi said that another deal was signed with nationwide governmental institutions and medical-service centres to open 23 kindergartens:

Five will be built at hospitals and Ministry of Health-affiliated healthcare centres in Mafraq, Ma’an and the northern Badia; seven will be opened at Directorates affiliated with the Ministry of Social Development in Jerash, Ma’an, Deir Alla, Tafilah, Karak, Amman and Ruwaished; and 11 will be built in other organizations affiliated with the Jordanian Royal Medical Services across the country.

In total, the 80 kindergartens will serve 15,000 working mothers, train 700 workers and employ 500 women.

Providing a safe environment for young children will allow and encourage more women to enter the workforce, and give more students the opportunity to undertake child care studies at university.