Inclusion in daycare centers: Lower Saxony fights a shortage of skilled workers with a new project!

Inclusion in daycare centers: Lower Saxony fights a shortage of skilled workers with a new project!

In Lower Saxony there is an urgent problem: Many daycare centers have to regularly restrict the care of their children due to lack of staff. The good news is that the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband Hannover has now launched a courageous project in order to counteract this defect. Under the name “Inclusion in daycare teams”, an innovative approach is followed that not only want to win specialists but also want to actively live inclusion.

Leonie Warnecke is one of the first participants in this project. The young woman, who previously worked in a workshop for people with impairments, has now got a place in a daycare center in Hanover and lovingly takes care of the children there. The idea is clear: people with impairments are to be integrated into the regular daycare teams and trained as daycare assistants. The financial burden for daycare centers remains manageable, since they only have to take over 25% of the salaries. The rest is financed through a state funding program, which makes the project more attractive. According to NDR draws a consistently positive interim balance: Kerstin Tack, the chairman of the parity Project even as a milestone.

Inclusion as an educational mandate

But the project goes far beyond the solution of the shortage of skilled workers. In Lower Saxony, the joint upbringing of children with and without disabilities is legally anchored. These requirements can be implemented in institutions through integrative education and early childhood support. The Lower Saxony education system tries to ensure educational success and social participation for all children. The parity welfare association is not on the road here: The project is supported by the legal framework of the NKITAG, the minimum standard for the structural quality in early childhood education. The Lower Saxony State Youth Welfare Office can be contacted for the planning and implementation of such integrative offers, such as "https://bildportal-niedersachsen.de/fruehkindliche-bildung/kindertagenstungs/integrative-Bildung"> Bildungsportal-niedersachsen.de

With the aim of promoting diversity in daycare centers, the project brings valuable impulses. "This gives the children the chance to experience lived inclusion and win new perspectives," said Kerstin Tack. This consideration makes it clear that inclusion not only represents a legal order, but above all also enriches everyday cooperation in our societies.

A look into the future

The challenges remain great. A current report by the State Audit Office shows that more than half of the daycare centers have to take care of their care due to the lack of personnel. And the state government is currently not planning any measures to relax this situation, which leads to weekly protests in front of the State Chancellery in Hanover. An upcoming topic of these protests is the planned reform of the daycare law, which is considered inadequate by many. The initiative of the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband comes at exactly the right time.

The need to promote specialists in early childhood education and to secure the quality of the care is clearly weighted by experts. A report by the German Youth Institute from 2022 emphasizes that the shortage of skilled workers is the most pressing problem in early education. The key to a solution could be in the increased qualification and integration of people with impairments so that they find a place in the education system and all children can benefit from a diverse and inclusive daycare culture. All of these aspects make it clear that something is moving here that is not only important, but also necessary.