There is still a drastic shortage of skilled workers in daycare centers in Baden-Württemberg.
The pandemic has exacerbated the situation and the forecasts are bleak.
Most daycare workers still like to be at the forefront between the building blocks.
Stuttgart - Gerhard Brand will soon only have to call his daughter for a direct line to a day care center in Baden-Württemberg. The offspring of the head of the education and upbringing association (VBE) is undergoing training and will soon look after boys and girls in one of the 9,300 kindergartens and crèches in Baden-Württemberg. It will be work under the sign of staff shortages and overtime, under pressure and with a comparatively low salary, if you follow a new study that the VBE union presented on Wednesday at the German Kitaeitungskongress (DKLK) in Stuttgart.
According to this, almost every daycare center and every kindergarten in the southwest (88 percent) had to do without so many staff in the past few months that the so-called supervision obligation was no longer guaranteed. According to a new study, the deficiency was sometimes even serious in around every fifth day care center (18 percent). "The shortage of staff is worsening, in some cases with dramatic consequences for the children and educational staff," warned VBE Country Manager Brand. Two-thirds of the 2,220 day-care center managers who took part in the online survey would also see it that way. Overtime and insecure guidelines in the corona pandemic would have increased the burden.
In the opinion of almost half (48 percent) of those surveyed, providers hired staff whose qualifications only fit the job to a limited extent and which therefore would not have been hired years ago. Because of the high workload, many skilled workers were absent, said Brand, the number of sick leave is increasing. The group sizes are also not suitable for children everywhere. The VBE called for a significant increase in staff, more opportunities for lateral entrants, in addition, the training for interested young people had to be more attractive and the work for the day-care center managers had to be made easier.
According to the study, more than 40 percent of day-care center managers need more than 60 percent of their working time for management tasks, but this is only contractually stipulated for one in five of them.
"We urgently need managers, but we run the risk that fewer and fewer specialists are willing to take on management responsibility under the existing conditions," said Brand.
The Baden-Württemberg economy is also sticking its finger in the wound: "Investments in early childhood education in particular have an enormous economic and social return," said Stefan Küpper, Managing Director of Politics, Education and Labor Market of the Baden-Württemberg Entrepreneurs' Association (UBW).
The study is "a renewed alarm signal that shows the urgent need for political action".
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According to the State Statistical Office, around 45,000 children are cared for in around 9,300 facilities in Baden-Württemberg.
Two thirds of the children in care last year were of the classic kindergarten age from three to under six years.
The number of employees was around 112,500 in March 2020, around 100,000 of whom worked as educational staff.
In addition to the country, the church is also an important provider of daycare centers.
Brand speaks of a "gloomy picture of the personnel situation" in the industry, but he would not advise his own children against joining.
"Yes, I would recommend it to my children, my daughter is already doing it," he said.
And the daycare managers don't seem to have enough, despite the circumstances.
According to the study, nine out of ten enjoy working in daycare.
“They are all people who believe in conviction,” said Brand.
dpa
