“Unskilled man took care of the children’s group by himself”

• Anna Mees

  online editor

That there are widespread concerns about the quality of childcare due to staff shortages, appeared this morning. GGD GHOR Nederland observes that reception places often do not respect certain rules. This is also the case for a nursery in Overijssel.

An unskilled employee who does chores for the nursery, has been taking care of the group of children by himself for the past week. So says Michiel, that he doesn’t want to be in the media with his surname. He and his wife have two small children. The shelter organization in Nieuwleusen acknowledges the incident and the GGD has carried out an inspection.

“My 2-year-old was looked after by a gentleman last week, who said he would be supervising the children’s group that day,” Michiel says. “I went to work, but I didn’t feel comfortable. I thought it was strange that suddenly there was a stranger in the group. I called my wife and then I thought: I think he’s just the handyman.”

Supervisors in childcare cannot be alone with children, according to the so-called four eyes principle. This was introduced after the case of Robert M., who had abused dozens of children in Amsterdam.

Along with his wife Anouk, Michiel picked up the kids earlier than usual. Anouk started a chat with the gentleman in question. “My wife asked for a little more and it finally came down to the fact that she didn’t have a diploma and she wanted to get one in the future.” Plus he had no VOG, a Certificate of good conduct.

The parents called the daycare owner, the Parents in Childcare Interest Group (Boink), and the GGD. The following day, the GGD IJsselland, which supervises kindergartens in the region, visited the site, a spokesman confirmed.

“At the moment we cannot answer substantive questions, because the inspection report is not yet public. We expect it to be published in about four weeks.” In the meantime, the report is sent to the host organisation, which is given time to respond. Then he goes to the municipality.

The refuge involved is De Groene Helden of Nieuwleusen. According to her partner, director Etelka Strik cannot be reached for an answer. In front of The Stentor Strik admits he made a mistake when he learned there weren’t enough suitable staff. “I didn’t want to give the parents a big deal at the last minute. I realize that if I do, I have to close the group. I will from now on.”

According to her, the man in question has a Belgian VOG. “Application for his required Dutch VOG was submitted on November 3, but it hadn’t arrived yet.”

Michiel and his wife have decided not to take their children to this shelter anymore and have canceled the contract. “Luckily we found another place. But the days we would like for both of our children will only be available in a year. The kids are home more often, so that’s it.”