Holiday Care in Austria presents many parents from school children with challenges – after all, five weeks of holiday duties are confronted with nine school -free weeks alone in the summer.
There is already a “care gap” of two weeks during the summer holidays. A quarter uses a home office as an emergency solution, according to a parent investigation. In a study by the Chamber of Labor (AK) with more than 1000 participants, four out of ten people complained about organizing holiday care last year. In the AK there is fear that the situation will be further tightened by the budget hole …
The background is also the financial bottlenecks in the communities. These are decisive for everything that has to do with childcare. According to a prediction from the Center for Administrative Research (KDZ), every second community can be negative in 2028. Community Association President Johannes Presl (ÖVP) has therefore recently argued for a debate on deductible in the use of public services.
Offers must be expanded despite savings
It must be ensured that the supply is expanded despite the necessary savings and not reduced, AK training expert emphasized Elke Larcher.
In addition to more high -quality, cheap offers, she also wants simplifications from the organization, for example by coordinating the large providers of childcare offers and the municipalities with the registration deadlines. Together with the ÖGB, the AK remains a summer support stop with providers, the federal government, countries and municipalities.
Ask for long -term general plan for kindergarten schools
From Large’s point of view, there would also be more coordination between these levels at the nursery schools, where a huge shortage of trained employees is added to the financial problems of the responsible municipalities and cities. Theoretically there are enough trained specialists, says Larcher. Due to poor framework conditions such as too large groups and too many children per educator, too little of them would also work in kindergarten or stay there in the long term.
“Here you need a general plan with long -term orientation,” said Larcher. With predictable improvements in the medium term, more specialists can be brought back into the basic educational institutions, and pays an increased qualification of auxiliary forces in the confidence of municipalities and cities, the AK expert expects. “They will not just stay in the field if nothing improves in the general terms and conditions. An obligation is required here when it happens,” she advocates a specific step plan. This would also help the municipalities, who then know which expansion steps can be expected and which financing instruments are available for this. Young families also need a planning protection about whether a complete job and small children are compatible for them.
It is important that the step plan is ambitious and still feasible. “It doesn’t help if we tell the communities that they just don’t bring them to the ground.” In individual federal states with very ambitious plans, measures to improve quality in the past would have led to the fact that groups had to be closed due to too few staff. “That must be well coordinated in Austria.”
Source: Krone
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