Education - BSW wants mandatory language tests for children from the age of 3
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in Saxony proposes binding language tests for children aged three and above, in order to react to deficits as early as possible. This is about strategically planning early childhood education, said BSW chair Sabine Zimmermann to the German Press Agency in Dresden, criticizing the state government for neglect. Saxony still has one of the poorest daycare quotas in kindergartens in the federal average. "We must seize the opportunity that currently arises from declining enrollments in kindergartens."
A hasty elimination of positions or even closure of institutions would be short-sighted. "Instead, we can now plan with a perspective and improve the daycare quotas indirectly with declining enrollments and at least stable positions." For kindergartens, a daycare ratio of 1 to 7 would be required, and for kindergartens 1 to 3. This would allow educational staff to focus on early childhood education and develop children according to their potential. In addition, the working conditions of employees would significantly improve, said Zimmermann. This should be a medium-term goal and will become increasingly important in the face of the growing percentage of children with foreign roots.
Currently, the personnel ratio for working with children in Saxony is 1 to 5 (kindergarten) and 1 to 12 (daycare center). Culture Minister Christian Piwarz (CDU) has already spoken out in favor of retaining personnel who become free due to declining birth rates in these institutions. "If we want to further strengthen the quality of education in kindergartens and daycare centers, we should hold on to the personnel roster in kindergarten and daycare centers and use the decline in child enrollments as demographic revenue. This directly benefits our children, as it enables individualized support."
- Sabine Zimmermann, the chair of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance in Saxony, suggested that binding language tests for children aged three and above should be implemented to address linguistic deficits early on.
- During a meeting with the German Press Agency in Dresden, Zimmermann criticized the state government for failing to invest sufficiently in kindergartens, leading to one of the poorest daycare quotas in the federal average.
- As a result of declining enrollments in kindergartens, the BSW proposes using this opportunity to improve the working conditions of educational staff and increase daycare quotas, reaching targets such as 1 to 7 for kindergartens and 1 to 3 for daycare centers.
- The German Press Agency reported that Culture Minister Christian Piwarz from the CDU also supports retaining personnel in kindergartens and daycare centers as their positions become available due to decreasing birth rates, aiming to enhance the quality of education and support for children in these institutions.
