Press releases

A meeting of representatives from all parents' councils of daycare centers in the city of Aachen took place in the forum of the Maria Montessori Comprehensive School. The meeting was attended by 14 daycare providers, representing a total of over 100 daycare centers in the city.

At the event, the general staffing situation in the daycare centers was discussed and the correlations that lead to staff shortages, absenteeism and the associated restrictions on the scope of care were explained. According to the providers, this is neither a problem specific to the providers nor is it unique to the city of Aachen. Instead, it is a nationwide, structural problem that the providers of daycare facilities are simply unable to solve under the current legal framework.

There was a great deal of interest in the event; around 70 parents' representatives came to Bergische Gasse alongside Mayor Hilde Scheidt as Chair of the city's Children and Youth Committee and youth policy representatives. They were given a presentation on how this childcare crisis came about and what it actually means for providers, daycare centers, politicians, families and especially children. "This restricts children's opportunities to grow up with equal opportunities" was one of the statements made time and again. The possibilities and limitations of daycare providers to counter staff shortages in the current daycare year were also discussed.

The parents in attendance had numerous questions for the speakers. Many statements reflected the frustration and sometimes also the despair of parents at having to organize their everyday lives and reconcile family and career with unsecured childcare. Numerous
suggestions were made as to how parents could be supported in daycare centers within the legal framework. Representatives of the Youth Welfare Office Parents' Council called on parents to become more involved in order to represent their interests in state politics, pointing out the critical situation of families from a parental perspective and calling for legal changes and improvements. "We are all called upon to treat each other with respect in this crisis, but at the same time to hold those responsible to account," was the appeal formulated at the end of the event.