“Incomprehensible and negligent”: After eleven years of financing the “Language Daycare Centers” program, the federal government now wants to hand over the responsibility for the structures and approaches that have been created to the federal states. Countries and unions are not stingy with criticism.
The federal states are opposing the federal government’s intention to phase out a program for language support in daycare centers at the end of the year.
In a joint statement, the youth and family ministers appealed to the federal government to revise the decision against the background of the corona pandemic and the large number of refugees from Ukraine. They call for the project to be continued and “perspectively to be consolidated as a permanent federal program”.
“In the current situation, language training for children must also be a central concern of federal politics,” says the statement, which Berlin published as the current presidency of the Youth and Family Ministers’ Conference (JFMK). Early childhood language education improves children’s educational and participation opportunities. “Putting the cuts here is also a devaluation of the work done so far for the many employees in the daycare centers.” The step also exacerbates the already tense staffing situation in day-care centers, saying it is “incomprehensible and negligent”.
Criticism from education unions
Education unions have joined the criticism from the federal states. «On Sunday speeches they raise
Politicians the importance of early childhood
education. The next day they don’t provide any more funds
for high-quality funding programs. The professionals shake their heads in frustration,” said Doreen Siebernik, board member of the Education and Science Union (GEW).
Especially in times when daycare centers are
integration of refugee children from Ukraine
enormous additional challenges, the step is irresponsible, said Udo Beckmann, chairman of the Association for Education and Training (VBE). «Here will be an important and proven
Building block of a foundation for more educational justice and
Equal opportunities destroyed overnight.”
The GEW accused the federal government of breaching the coalition agreement. In the paper, the traffic light parties had stated: “We want to further develop and promote child day care as a child day care offer and further develop and consolidate the “Language Kitas” program.”
A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs said on Monday that the federal government had been supporting the states “massively” for years with funding programs in the daycare sector. However, these are always limited, since the responsibility for childcare lies with the federal states. After eleven years of financing the “Language Daycare Centers” program and building up skills across the board, the structures and approaches that have been created have now become the responsibility of the federal states. According to the ministry, around every eighth day-care center nationwide is a language day-care center. More than 500,000 children and their families have benefited from this.
Source: Stern
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