Politicians in Saterland argue about the future of daycare and special meetings!

Politicians in Saterland argue about the future of daycare and special meetings!

In the Strücklingen region, the daycare problem has long since become a political issue. CDU and FDP are currently demanding special meetings to discuss urgently necessary topics. From the point of view of the two factions, however, the planned appointments come much too late in July. The mayor of Strücklingen, Thomas Otto, is now exposed to the criticism of the local authority because he presumably violates the Lower Saxony Local Constitution Act (NKOMVG). According to [nwzonline] (https://www.nwzonline.de/cloppenburg-kreis/kita-ms-ims-saterland-politischer-steit-- and-kommunalrecht_4,1043685652.html), an extraordinary council meeting should have taken place before June 25th

What exactly is on the agenda? On June 25th, the daycare problem will be treated in a regular meeting. Both the applications of the CDU/FDP and the claims of the SPD and the Greens will then be discussed. The latter are committed to a residents' survey on the location question of new daycare centers.

Kita law changes in Lower Saxony

In a context that illuminates the challenges in early childhood education, the Lower Saxony Minister of Culture Julia Willie Hamburg emphasized the importance of a holistic responsibility of all those involved. The shortage of skilled workers in early childhood education remains a central problem for daycare centers in Lower Saxony. Inefficient personnel keys and missing specialists slow down the development of childcare, as well as the Lower Saxony reports.

From August 1st, a revised daycare law comes into force, which is intended to give local facilities more freedom. The government factions from the SPD and the Greens have developed a draft, which, among other things, provides for the qualification of assistance forces and the flexibility of childcare times by 2026. These measures are a step in the right direction to counter the shortage of skilled workers and to relax the situation in the Lower Saxony daycare centers.

The shortage of skilled workers: an urgent problem

Despite all efforts, the shortage of skilled workers is still the focus of the discussions. The Bertelsmann Foundation found out early childhood education systems in its “country monitoring” that the proportion of pedagogical staff has dropped with a relevant technical school degree in Lower Saxony. In 2017 it was still 75.6 %, in 2023 the value was only 71.5 %. Lower Saxony is below the nationwide average of 72.5 %.

• In 2023, about 35 % of children under the age of three visited a daycare center.
• of the three to six year olds used 91 % an offer of childcare.
• More than half of the children are not looked after according to scientific recommendations.

difficult framework conditions and breaking skills put the social infrastructure under great pressure. A bright spot was recognized here, because there were improvements in care compared to 2017, but the risk of permanent lowering of the specialist quota is omnipresent. As Kathrin Bock-Famulla from the Bertelsmann Foundation notes, this could have catastrophic consequences for early childhood education.

in Strücklingen and everywhere in Lower Saxony it is clear: there is still a lot of work ahead of us to ensure the daycare quality and the growth of skilled workers.