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Study: End of the shortage of teachers by 2028 at the latest
Status: 09:42 a.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
A man with two children casts a shadow on a painted wall of a day care center.
Source: Peter Kneffel/dpa
Not only parents need a sufficient number of good day-care places for their children. The economy as well, otherwise employees will be absent. New studies dare new forecasts.
According to a study commissioned by the state government, the shortage of educators that Bavaria has repeatedly predicted will be covered in three to five years. “If the increase in skilled workers in recent years continues, we can cover the need for skilled workers for the school and daycare year 2027/28,” said Social Minister Ulrike Scharf (CSU) of the German Press Agency in Munich. In order to actively counteract the shortage of skilled workers, the state government has set the sails correctly.
With a view to the increasing need for places for all-day care for primary school children, Scharf also referred to a second study she had also commissioned: According to this, the 130,000 new childcare places for primary school children announced in July at the childcare summit can be realized by 2028. The municipalities would be actively supported in creating 130,000 places for primary school children as well as a further 50,000 places for children up to the age of starting school, emphasized Scharf.
In October 2022, a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation gave the state of Bavaria a much worse prognosis for childcare: According to this, there should be a shortage of almost 62,000 daycare places in the current year and an associated 14,500 additional educators.
“The shortage of skilled workers is acute and has been known for a long time. It’s a slap in the face for daycare workers and families in Bavaria when the Minister of Social Affairs stands up and says: We’ll have it under control by 2028,” said Green Party leader Katharina Schulze. Bavaria needs immediate solutions to the daycare crisis – not just the prospect of better times.
“Currently there is a lack of staff everywhere, opening hours for daycare centers are being reduced, entire groups are closed or not even opened – and according to the daycare providers, there is no relief in sight at all,” said Doris Rauscher (SPD). It would be disastrous for Bavaria’s children, parents and ultimately also for the Bavarian economy if decisive political action were not taken based on the forecast.
From the 2026/2027 school year, children of primary school age will have a legal right to all-day education and care. «Bavaria’s families can rely on reliable childcare. By the end of the decade, we will create sufficient childcare places for our children and ensure high-quality educational care by qualified staff in our daycare centers,” said Scharf. The expansion of all-day care is the decisive future task for family, social and integration policy in the coming years.
According to the representative study, not all parents want to have their children looked after for eight hours, rather shorter childcare options are also in demand. Currently, around five percent of the 1,400 parents surveyed stated that they had not received a place in all-day care for their child. Another six percent would also like a different scope of care. More than half of the parents of primary school children would also like childcare during the holidays.
In the case of educators, the study pointed out that between 2015 and 2022 more than 31,000 new specialists and supplementary workers had been hired. The number of children in Bavarian child day care increased by around 109,000 in the same period. Depending on the immigration balance, an additional 21,000 to 24,000 skilled and supplementary workers would be needed by 2029 to cover future needs. “The number of specialist academies for social pedagogy has risen from 49 in 2011 to 73, and more are being planned – we enable training close to home,” said Scharf. The educators would also be supported financially with an increased master bonus of 3000 euros.
2023-08-02 07:42:56
#Kindergarten #shortage #teachers #latest
