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Bochum schoolchildren in all-day care (archive image)
Photo: Roland Weihrauch / DPA
600,000 additional childcare places, plus 35,000 additional full-time positions by 2029: This is the nationwide need for expansion when the legal right to a full-time place is gradually introduced for elementary school children from 2026.
The numbers come from a new study that was carried out jointly by the German Youth Institute (DJI) and the TU Dortmund.
This means that "the need for additional expansion is less than previously assumed," the researchers write.
Because »recently, over 1.6 million primary school children attended an all-day program.
This means that three out of four of the required places are currently already available «.
more on the subject
Nationwide legal entitlement: the federal and state governments agree on all-day care for primary school students
However, one should not be fooled by the number of the 35,000 full-time positions mentioned; around 57,000 educational supervisors are required, according to the study.
The actual need for skilled workers is significantly greater because a high proportion of part-time work can be assumed, says Christiane Meiner-Teubner, one of the authors of the study.
And: Another 138,000 people would have to be recruited as specialists for the daycare centers.
The West has some catching up to do
However, there are huge differences in the need for expansion between the federal states.
According to the study, the situation is particularly critical in the western German states, where 30 to 40 percent of the places still have to be created.
"In
North Rhine-Westphalia
and
Bavaria
in particular
, significant efforts will still be necessary to find sufficiently qualified staff so that the full legal entitlement to a full-time place in elementary school can be fulfilled from the school year 2029/30," says Thomas Rauschenbach, scientific director of the Research association. The two most populous countries still lacked 7,500 and 7,000 full-time positions, respectively.
In
Thuringia,
on the other hand, no additional demand at all is expected until 2030;
in the other
eastern German territorial states
there is only a small need for personnel.
"The offer is already well developed here, and the number of children will sometimes decline in a few years," explained the experts.
In
Hamburg
,
too
, only a small proportion of the places are still missing.
New places for 4.6 billion
The overall lower demand means that "the costs incurred will also be lower than previously assumed," said the researchers. "Nationwide, investment costs for the creation of new places of around 4.6 billion euros are now assumed." The study authors also expect additional operating costs of a maximum of 2.6 billion euros for the school year 2029/30. The highest costs would arise in North Rhine-Westphalia with around 575 million and Bavaria with 531 million euros.
The federal government has promised the federal states to support the all-day expansion with up to 3.5 billion euros for the infrastructure and then to participate in the running costs on a permanent basis.
According to the federal government, the funds will grow to up to 1.3 billion euros per year from 2030. The all-day project is “an educational challenge,” but it appears feasible, according to Rauschenbach.
him / dpa