In contrast to other federal states, there are enough daycare places in Saxony-Anhalt. But there is a problem with the personnel key. A study gives concrete recommendations on how the state government can improve the situation.
Gütersloh/Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – According to a study, a daycare teacher in Saxony-Anhalt still has to take care of too many children. In the crèche groups, a full-time employee has 5.4 children, nationwide it is 3.9. It is similar in kindergarten groups: there are 10.4 children, while nationwide there are 8.4. This is the result of the country monitoring of early childhood education systems presented by the Bertelsmann Foundation on Thursday.
The authors of the study state that the situation in Saxony-Anhalt has improved slightly since 2014. “But compared to the recommendations of the Bertelsmann Foundation (1 to 7.5), one specialist is still responsible for almost three more children.”
The biggest problem in the day-care centers remains the lack of skilled workers. “The state government must finally create the conditions for hiring more staff in the daycare centers through legal reforms,” ??says Kathrin Bock-Famulla, an expert on early childhood education at the Bertelsmann Foundation. She recommends that Saxony-Anhalt should use future federal funds for day care centers exclusively for better staffing.
In order to achieve a staff ratio that corresponds to scientific recommendations, around 10,900 additional specialists would have to be hired in Saxony-Anhalt. This would result in additional personnel costs of around 529 million euros per year.
According to the study, the shortage of skilled workers is a double problem: too little staff not only worsens the quality of early childhood education for the children, but also the working conditions for the skilled workers. This reduces the chances of keeping existing staff in the profession.
According to the information, there are almost enough daycare places in Saxony-Anhalt to cover the parents’ demand. In the coming year, 1,400 of the 94,400 places required will be missing.
