Schwerin (dpa / mv) – Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania wants to increase its spending on childcare again. In the next three years, a total of 13 million euros are to be made available for better staffing in the day-care centers. Since trainees in the first and second year of apprenticeship will no longer be counted in the personnel position assessment, additional employees could be hired, explained Minister of Education Simone Oldenburg on Wednesday in the state parliament in the first reading of the new state daycare law.
So far, prospective educators have also been included in the staffing ratio – with 30 and 40 percent, respectively. Oldenburg conceded that this leads to disadvantages for institutions that participate in the three-year dual training program that has been possible since 2017. The change in the law is now part of a quality offensive in early childhood education. “With 13 million euros we relieve the carriers, the districts and urban districts, as well as the municipalities. Money with which they can hire more educators that we train in our state,” explained the minister.
According to Oldenburg, 8,400 young people have completed teacher training in the state since 2017. Sabine Enseleit from the FDP complained that only about half of the graduates got a job in the state. Like Anne Shepley from the Greens, she called for more staff to improve the care ratios in crèches and daycare centers. In nationwide comparisons, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regularly ends up far behind. Enrico Schult (AfD), on the other hand, warned of the financial consequences. The country cannot afford any further social benefits at the expense of taxpayers.
