- SPD wants to prevent closure of kindergartens in Saxony
The Saxon SPD aims to use the declining number of children to improve the care of girls and boys, and to financially relieve parents and municipalities. "Cutting on the backs of children and educators will not happen with the SPD," promises Petra Köpping, the SPD's top candidate for the Saxony state election and the state's social minister: "For us, it's clear: The local kindergarten must remain, and staff must be maintained even as the number of children decreases. We are committed to more education for children, lower fees for parents, and further relief for municipalities."
"In the next ten years, the number of kindergarten children is expected to decrease by around 15 percent. While this initially doesn't sound good, it presents a great opportunity: Up to 150 million euros previously needed funds will be freed up," explained Köpping. "Unfortunately, some politicians only see this as a chance to save money. The consequences would be kindergarten closures and staff reductions." The SPD considers cuts in this area to be the completely wrong approach. "That's why we want a kindergarten moratorium before the state election to stop possible kindergarten closures." A new state parliament will be elected in Saxony on September 1.
SPD Action Plan
The SPD has presented an action plan. According to this, the moratorium should already apply from August. A year later, the first steps towards improving staff ratios in daycare centers, kindergartens, and after-school care should be taken, and a cap on contributions for the facilities should come into effect. From August 2026, after-school care should be free, and two years later, there should be a free pre-school year in kindergarten. For 2034, the abolition of all fees and new staff ratios are targeted: one educator for every three children in daycare, 1 to 7.5 in kindergarten, and 1 to 12 in after-school care.
The Education and Science Union (GEW) welcomed the initiative. "We are pleased that our proposal for a kindergarten moratorium has been taken up by the state government. We demand that the state funds paid to kindergarten providers be continued at the same level until the staff ratios are improved," said GEW chairman Burkhard Naumann. The SPD's action plan now contains concrete proposals. "Without these, we will lose staff that we need for the improvement of staff ratios."
Also, Education Minister Christian Piwarz advocates for retaining staff
Currently, the staff ratio for working with children in Saxony is 1 to 5 (daycare), 1 to 12 (kindergarten), and 0.9 to 20 (after-school care). Staff freed up due to declining birth rates should be retained in the facilities. Education Minister Christian Piwarz (CDU) has already advocated for keeping staff in kindergartens: "If we want to further strengthen the quality of education in kindergarten and after-school care, we should stick to the staffing levels in kindergarten facilities and use the demographic dividend of the declining number of children. This directly benefits our children, as it enables more individual support," he explained recently.
The SPD's action plan aims to maintain staff in kindergartens even as the Number of children decreases, with a goal of one educator for every three children in daycare, 1 to 7.5 in kindergarten, and 1 to 12 in after-school care by 2034. Despite the anticipated decrease in kindergarten children by 15%, the SPD is opposed to cuts in this area, warning of possible kindergarten closures and staff reductions if such an approach is taken.
