- The association is concerned about the situation of the kites in Lower Saxony
In light of staff shortages, a union expresses concern about the situation in Lower Saxony's daycare centers. The acute staff shortage is leading to reduced opening hours or temporary emergency groups in daycare centers, the German Daycare Association in Lower Saxony reported.
"In some cases, new daycare centers can only be partially or not at all opened due to a lack of staff, or no new children can be accepted," the association's business office reported. There are already too few daycare places in Lower Saxony, the association criticized. "If the right to a full day in elementary school is added in 2026, the situation will worsen."
Changes in daycare centers in Lower Saxony will come into effect from tomorrow, August 1. This is due to an amended daycare law. Among other things, substitute rules in daycare centers will be made more flexible, and the use of assistant staff will be eased when there are not enough qualified staff. In practice, this could mean that in the future, even untrained parents and retirees could help out in daycare centers - municipalities have advocated for this.
Ministry: Many social education and care workers in training and further education
The association stated that the law is moving in the right direction. However, it is regrettable that the coalition did not provide for a significant improvement in a remunerated, part-time training in their draft law.
The Ministry of Culture emphasized that these regulations are time-limited, ranging from two to six years depending on the area of responsibility. "All measures give carriers the opportunity to hire new staff and qualify them as specialists or further qualify existing staff as educators," a ministry spokeswoman said.
The ministry further stated that Lower Saxony has been able to win more specialists for daycare centers for several years. Currently, more than 19,200 social education and care workers are in training and further education, which is the highest number ever.
"Given the current situation, there might be a need for schools to consider offering additional training programs or partnerships with daycare centers to help alleviate the staff shortage."
"The concern over staff shortages in daycare centers could potentially extend to schools in the future, as the right to a full day in elementary school will be implemented in 2026."
