Society - Hardly any men in Thuringia's kindergartens
Childcare in nurseries in Thuringia remains primarily a woman's job. Although the proportion of male educators has risen slightly and continuously over the past ten years, it remains at a low level. This is according to statistics from the Ministry of Education, which are available to the German Press Agency. According to the statistics, 1669 men were employed in the state's daycare centers as of March 1. A total of 18,724 professionals were looking after the children in the facilities. This puts the proportion of men at 8.9 percent.
Traditionally a female profession
Daniel Reinhardt is an educator himself and is a member of the Thuringian state parliament for the Left Party. In his opinion, there are several reasons for the low proportion of men in nurseries.
"Yes, it's traditionally more of a female profession and that's still in people's minds today," said the spokesperson for early childhood education and training policy for the Left Party parliamentary group. As a childcare worker, you earn significantly less money than in other professions that are more likely to be taken up by men. "There aren't really great career opportunities. You can either be an educator or become a mentor or daycare manager, but that's it," he explained.
Ten years ago, the proportion of men was around 6.4 percent, in 2006 it was only one percent. According to the Ministry of Education, the opening up of the profession is aimed at "heterogeneity in all areas". In recent years, the training path has also changed to some extent in Thuringia. In what is known as practice-integrated training, trainee nursery teachers receive money; previously, the traditional route was usually via school-based training, where school fees were payable.
Male caregivers
According to Reinhardt, men sometimes have different approaches to kindergarten than women or suggest different solutions. It also gave children of single mothers, for example, the opportunity to "build up a relationship with a male caregiver", said Reinhardt. If things are not going well between the parents at home, it is also interesting for children to see how men and women interact with each other in kindergarten.
"It would make sense for our society if there were also men in the early childhood sector." Children are surrounded by women most of the time, right through to primary school.
However, according to Reinhardt, there is no need for a campaign to attract more men into the profession. "I believe that Thuringia has other problems in the kindergarten sector than talking about the number of male educators." The main issue is the development of the staffing ratio.
The Left Party, SPD and Greens wanted to improve the quality of care with an amendment to the Kindergarten Act and ensure that one nursery teacher has to look after fewer children than before. Education experts regularly criticize the staffing ratio in Thuringia. However, the project is expensive and was not included in the budget negotiations for 2024. "The current budget will not bring about any improvement."
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- Despite the slight increase over the past decade, the majority of educators in Thuringia's kindergartens are still women, as evidenced by statistics from the Ministry of Education, with 1669 men out of a total of 18,724 professionals.
- Daniel Reinhardt, an educator and a member of the Thuringian state parliament for the Left Party, believes that the low proportion of men in nurseries is due to tradition and less remuneration compared to other male-oriented professions.
- Reinhardt highlights that having more men in kindergartens could benefit children, especially those with single mothers, by offering them the opportunity to build a relationship with a male caregiver.
- The Ministry of Education in Thuringia aims to promote "heterogeneity in all areas" by altering the training path for nursery teachers to offer practice-integrated training, which now provides financial support to trainees.
- According to Reinhardt, men sometimes bring different perspectives and solutions to kindergarten, which could contribute positively to the education of children.
- While there is no explicit campaign to attract more men into the profession, Reinhardt thinks that Thuringia's main issue in the kindergarten sector is not the number of male educators but rather the staffing ratio, which has been criticized by education experts for being too high.
- The Left Party, SPD, and Greens in Thuringia proposed an amendment to the Kindergarten Act to improve the quality of care, aiming to reduce the number of children each nursery teacher is responsible for, but the project was not included in the budget negotiations for 2024, which may hinder any improvement in the staffing ratio.
Source: www.stern.de
