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Daycare staff in the Werra-Meißner district: Alarming emergency!
In Witzenhausen, daycare centers are struggling with a lack of staff due to high levels of sickness absence, which is severely affecting care.
Daycare staff in the Werra-Meißner district: Alarming emergency!
The situation for daycare centers in the Werra-Meißner district is tense. As the HNA reports, seven daycare centers in Witzenhausen had to convert to emergency care this year alone. Two facilities even required support for a week, while others were affected for up to two days. Mayor Lukas Sittel criticizes the personnel shortages caused by sick leave and emphasizes that, despite full positions, temporary workers have to be used to cushion the absences.
However, emergency care only represents part of the larger problem Bertelsmann Foundation emphasizes that the dramatically high sickness absence among daycare staff represents a serious challenge for early childhood education. It is estimated that in 2023, daycare workers were unable to work for an average of almost 30 days, while other professional groups were only off work for 20 days. Respiratory infections and mental illnesses are the most common causes of illness in this sector, which increases the overwork of remaining employees.
Child care in Witzenhausen – effects and adjustments
In Witzenhausen, the staff shortage is not only reflected in the number of emergency care cases. Regulations and procedures must be constantly re-planned to meet requirements. There are no reports of staff shortages from facilities in Weißenborn, Bad Sooden-Allendorf, Meinhard and Berkatal. Neu-Eichenberg, on the other hand, only needs one position with 30 hours per week for the “Kleine Eichen” daycare center.
There are currently 0.75 full-time positions unfilled in Eschwege, and Waldkappel even reports two vacancies. An emergency plan was implemented across the entire district on around 20 days this year. The Awo kindergartens are generally well positioned, but there are also occasional vacancies. Awo managing director Runa Aasland-Jost does not want to give exact figures on the unfilled positions, but mentions that the retirement of educators is being considered as possible support for sickness replacements.
Political measures required
The challenges in daycare staff make it necessary to think about political solutions. A position paper from the Specialists Forum calls for legal regulations to finance replacements by qualified personnel during downtime. The need could even include 97,000 full-time skilled workers for representation nationwide - 25,000 of them in East Germany and 72,000 in West Germany. These regulations could stabilize the tense personnel situation in the short term, says the daily news with.
In addition, it is noted that the costs of these measures would increase to around 5.8 billion euros per year. In view of the growing psychological stress among employees, quick action is necessary in order not to further endanger the quality of early childhood education. In times when sickness levels are high, the demand for daycare places will also increase - a challenge that poses major tasks not only to local providers but also to politicians.