There is a serious shortage of staff in kindergartens in Baden-Württemberg. At the same time, the need for childcare is increasing. Politicians are trying to balance this with one exception.
The country is reacting to the tense situation in nursery schools and is reducing childcare standards. State Secretary for Culture Volker Schebesta (CDU) told the German news agency in Stuttgart that there may be bigger groups again, as in the corona pandemic. The exemption provides that the maximum group size can be exceeded by a maximum of two children in exceptional cases. “However, the change in the regulation is limited to the current nursery year,” Schebesta explained. The draft is still being examined by associations and municipalities.
Municipal, municipal and district councils had previously exerted enormous pressure on the state to allow group size exceptions again. The dramatic shortage of skilled labor no longer makes it possible to respect the previous rules and to fulfill the legal right to a nursery place. Municipalities were thus reacting to the state’s refusal to extend special rules for staff key and group size from the Crown period. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Verdi) then announced further aid.
The understaffing satisfies more children
Now the Ministry of Culture has poured it into a regulation available to the dpa. Consequently, in the case of the exception it must be ensured that the minimum staff ratio is respected without hiring the additional children. Furthermore, the duty of supervision must be guaranteed and the special needs of handicapped children must be taken into consideration. In order to increase the size of the group, the day center provider only needs to notify the state youth welfare office.
Schebesta had argued in the summer that there was concern that educators might give up their jobs due to the stress caused by too large groups. With the exemption, the ministry is trying to balance the high care needs of parents and the burden on professionals. The situation worsened because educators were absent due to the crown or the flu. In addition, many refugee children from Ukraine need to be cared for.
Flexible substitution rules
From 1 September, the missing educators can be replaced by double the non-teaching staff. However, the minimum personnel ratio cannot be more than 20% lower. In order to better react to waves of illness, there is also a more flexible substitution regulation: if a specialist is absent due to illness, he can be replaced by another employee for up to eight weeks.
Municipalities believe the cuts are manageable.
A recent Bertelsmann study showed that the ratio of children per day worker is nationally highest. In kindergartens, the staff ratio has improved further recently, with an educator looking after 2.9 children on average. In kindergartens, a specialist took care of 6.5 children. However, the study also revealed that 57,600 childcare centers will be lacking in the next year as parental needs are increasing.
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