In Hungary, pre-school education takes place in kindergartens under the supervision of preschool teachers, who are assisted by qualified support staff (carers or nannies). Preschool kindergarten education is compulsory and provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is also compulsory until the age of sixteen. 

Children are allocated to kindergartens based on the district where they live in Debrecen. To find out which municipal kindergarten belongs to your district, visit the official website of the city of Debrecen. In addition to municipal kindergarten, there are a wide range of kindergartens (óvoda) maintained by churches, public institutions, or various foundations.

The International School of Debrecen (ISD) offers an Early Childhood Programme for children aged between 3 and 5. ISD Kindergarten is the first Early Years program in Hungary to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP). Combining the international educational continuum of the IB with the Reggio Emilia philosophy, a child-centred, constructivist and research-based approach has been developed to meet the learning and developmental needs of children. The language of instruction is English. For more information, visit the official website of ISD. 

In addition to the ISD, the German-language kindergarten program with a German-speaking specialist has been introduced in the Nagyerdei Kindergarten in September 2022, where the language of instruction is German.