In view of the approaching autumn, kindergarten providers and teachers’ representatives are calling for measures to combat the shortage of staff in kindergartens. As the OÖN reported, many houses are struggling to find enough teachers for the group leadership. Some leaders are already worried about being able to open all groups in the fall.
For example, a lower childcare ratio is required – currently one teacher and one assistant have to look after up to 25 children – and scholarships for people who want to do elementary education in the second educational option. The church kindergarten providers also consider a third caregiver per group to be useful in order to relieve the burden on the staff and thus keep more people in the job.
Christine Haberlander (VP), as the responsible regional councilor, started a “dialogue tour” a few months ago. She meets with experts and employer and employee representatives at regular intervals. “As part of my tour, talks take place with the creative forces in the field of child education and care to talk about needs and opportunities – with the aim of achieving improvements for the children, the staff and the parents,” says the regional councilor at the request of OÖN.
In the previous year, progress was made in expanding the number of childcare places: the number of children cared for in a total of 1,307 facilities rose by 645 to 66,389 children compared to the previous year. 55 additional groups were created in the federal state.
The growth in the toddler groups was particularly strong: Their number rose by 52 to a total of 726. At the start of the 2021/22 kindergarten year, 6930 children under the age of three were cared for there, i.e. 688 more than in the previous year.
Source: Nachrichten
