At a state nursery (creșă) in Cluj-Napoca there is no enrollment fee and no monthly tuition. The only thing you pay is the food contribution, set at 15 lei per day of attendance by a decision of the administrative board of Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie, in force since 1 January 2025. It is paid in advance, for one calendar month, online or by bank transfer.
Below: the exact structure of the charge, how attendance days are counted, the online payment steps, and who can be exempt.
What you actually pay at a state nursery
Cluj-Napoca’s public nurseries are run by Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca (Aleea Meziad no. 4), a legal entity under the Local Council. Two pieces of legislation set the framework:
- Government Decision 566/2022 — the methodology for organising and running nurseries (Official Gazette no. 437 of 4 May 2022). Article 15(3): “La înscrierea copiilor în unitățile publice de educație timpurie antepreșcolară nu se percep taxe de înscriere” — no enrollment fees are charged at public early-education units. Article 55(1): parents pay a monthly maintenance/food contribution, set by decision of the unit’s administrative board, after consulting parents.
- Ministry of Education Order 4018/2024 — the framework enrollment methodology (Official Gazette no. 251 of 25 March 2024). Article 57(1) explicitly forbids state units “to institute fees or ask parents/legal representatives for other benefits in order to enrol” children, and 57(2) forbids collecting material or monetary funds from parents applying for a place.
In short: if a state nursery asks you for a “file fee”, a “place reservation fee” or an enrollment contribution, it has no legal basis. For money requested informally in group chats, see our guide on the group fund at a state institution.
How much is the food contribution in Cluj in 2026?
By Decision no. 25 of 7 November 2024 of the administrative board of Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca, the food contribution was changed from 12 lei/day to 15 lei/day, starting 1 January 2025, “following consultation with the parents’ representative council”. The decision is published as a scanned document on the institution’s Taxa lunară page, and rests on Law 198/2023 and article 157(10) of Ministry of Education Order 5.726/2024 (ROFUIP).
This is the institution’s most recently published decision. At the time of writing there is no public document amending it — but the rate can change through a new board decision, without advance notice to parents.
Confirm before you budget. Check the current amount on creseclujnapoca.ro/taxa-lunara or by phone at 0264-458.320 / 0374-474.471.
Because you pay per day of attendance rather than a flat subscription, the monthly bill varies. Indicative maths at 15 lei/day:
| Days of attendance in a month | Amount due (our own calculation) |
|---|---|
| 10 days | 150 lei |
| 15 days | 225 lei |
| 20 days | 300 lei |
| 21 days | 315 lei |
The figures in this table are a simple multiplication you can do yourself — not amounts published by the institution. The real amount is communicated by the nursery, based on the attendance register.
What happens if your child is absent?
The rule sits in article 56 of Government Decision 566/2022:
- (1) the monthly contribution depends on the child’s actual days of attendance in the daily programme;
- (2) attendance is recorded in an attendance register, completed by the medical assistant together with the early-years educator;
- (3) the contribution is paid in advance, for one calendar month;
- (4) if in a given month the child attended 3 working days or fewer, that month’s contribution is carried over to the following month.
In practice: you pay an estimated amount at the start of the month and absences are reconciled afterwards. Report an absence to the nursery on the day — what goes into the register is what you end up paying for.
How to pay the nursery fee in Cluj
The institution offers two payment channels, plus the legal option of paying with vouchers.
1. Online, through the City Hall platform
The fastest route: e-primariaclujnapoca.ro/crese (or primariaclujnapoca.ro → Plăți online / Plăți creșe). The steps, as described by the institution:
- Open the Plăți creșe (nursery payments) page.
- Enter the child’s CNP (personal numeric code) and a valid email address.
- Accept the terms and conditions to validate the payment.
- If there is an amount due, you receive an email with a link that takes you to the payment page. If there isn’t, you get a message saying no amount is due for that CNP.
- Payment confirmation also arrives by email, ending with the name and CNP, in line with GDPR rules.
The platform also has a Reminder option: subscribe and you get notified about future payments, by querying the nurseries’ fee server. If online payment fails, the support address given by the institution is informatica@primariaclujnapoca.ro.
2. By bank transfer
The account published by the institution is RO74TREZ2165006XXX022194, tax code (CIF) 19343123. Note the institution’s own warning: “Obligatoriu, ordinul de plată se trimite ulterior la creșă!” — the payment order must be sent to the nursery afterwards, otherwise the payment may not be recorded against your child.
3. With nursery or social vouchers
Government Decision 566/2022, article 55(3): the contribution may also be paid with nursery vouchers (tichete de creșă), social vouchers and/or social coupons, as provided by law. The nursery voucher is an optional employer benefit — see our guide to nursery vouchers for how to request it from HR and what the current maximum value is. At a state nursery, where you only pay for food, vouchers can cover practically the whole amount.
Who is exempt from the contribution?
The law names one category explicitly: children at risk of separation from their family who have an approved service plan. For them, article 55(2) of Government Decision 566/2022 provides full or partial exemption, with the amounts covered from the local budget.
The service plan is drawn up by the public social services department — in Cluj-Napoca, DASM (the Directorate for Social and Medical Assistance) — and submitted to the nursery. The local procedure is detailed in our article on exemptions and reductions on the state nursery fee in Cluj.
What does not exist at Cluj’s state nurseries: a published income-based reduction, or a sibling discount. The old percentage mechanism (20% of the maintenance cost for one child, less for families with several children) came from Government Decision 1252/2012, replaced by 566/2022 — today the amount is set by the unit’s administrative board, not as a percentage of family income. If your situation is unusual, ask the nursery or DASM directly.
State vs private: what you actually pay
| What you pay | State nursery (Cluj-Napoca) | Private nursery |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment fee | 0 lei — prohibited by law | often 150–650 lei, one-off |
| Monthly tuition | none | from ~1,500 to over 6,000 lei/month, most around ~2,500–3,800 |
| Meals | food contribution, 15 lei per day of attendance | included or billed separately (~15–50 lei/day) |
| When you pay | in advance, for one calendar month | per the service contract |
| Days of absence | charged on attendance; under 3 days attended, the contribution rolls over | contract-dependent — usually not deducted |
| How you pay | online (City Hall platform), bank transfer, vouchers | transfer/card, vouchers if the unit accepts them |
The order-of-magnitude difference is real: hundreds of lei a month in the public network, thousands in the private one. The trade-off is that public places are scarce and allocated by ranking criteria — see the full public vs private comparison and the steps for enrolling at a state nursery. The full lists live on the state nurseries and private nurseries pages.
For the tax side — what an employer can cover tax-free and how the personal deduction works — see our nursery and kindergarten deduction guide.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a state nursery cost per month in Cluj? There is no fixed monthly fee. You only pay the food contribution, set at 15 lei per day of attendance since 1 January 2025. For a month with 20 days of attendance that comes to 300 lei — a simple calculation, not a published figure. Confirm the current rate at creseclujnapoca.ro/taxa-lunara or on 0264-458.320.
How do I pay the nursery fee online in Cluj? At e-primariaclujnapoca.ro/crese (or primariaclujnapoca.ro → Plăți online → Plăți creșe). Enter the child’s CNP and a valid email address, accept the terms, then receive the payment link by email. Confirmation also comes by email.
Do I pay when my child is absent? The contribution is calculated on actual days of attendance, recorded in a register at the nursery. If the child attended 3 working days or fewer in a month, that month’s contribution is carried over to the next month (GD 566/2022, article 56).
Is there an enrollment fee at a state nursery? No. Article 15(3) of GD 566/2022 states that no enrollment fees are charged at public early-education units, and article 57 of Ministry of Education Order 4018/2024 prohibits both instituting fees and collecting funds from parents for enrollment.
Can I pay with nursery vouchers? Yes. Article 55(3) of GD 566/2022 allows the contribution to be paid with nursery vouchers, social vouchers and/or social coupons. Vouchers are optional for employers, though — you have to ask HR for them.
Who is exempt from the food contribution? Children at risk of separation from their family, with an approved service plan, are fully or partially exempt, with the cost covered from the local budget. The procedure goes through DASM Cluj-Napoca.
Sources
- Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca — Taxa lunară and Decision no. 25 of 7 November 2024 of the administrative board (food contribution, 15 lei/day from 1 January 2025)
- Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca — Plata online (payment steps, bank account)
- Nursery payments — Cluj-Napoca City Hall platform
- Government Decision 566/2022 — methodology for organising and running nurseries, Official Gazette no. 437 of 4 May 2022 (articles 15, 55, 56)
- Ministry of Education Order 4018/2024 — framework enrollment methodology, Official Gazette no. 251 of 25 March 2024 (article 57)
- Our data sources — the full list
Conclusion
At a state nursery in Cluj you pay one thing: your child’s meals — 15 lei per day of attendance, in advance, online or by bank transfer, with no enrollment fee and no tuition. Absences are deducted, nursery vouchers are accepted, and full exemption exists only for children with an approved service plan. Confirm the current rate with the nursery before you budget, and find every nursery in Cluj-Napoca on the piticluj.ro interactive map.