Mr. Spieker, was 2022 a good year for Berlin’s small children?
Unfortunately, this depends on which counties they live in and the socioeconomic status of their parents. In Spandau, Reinickendorf and Neukölln, the lack of daycare places continues to increase. This has fatal consequences for later educational success. It is proven: In Berlin, the origin of the parents also influences the chance of a daycare place. In addition, Corona has had a variety of influences on children, which are still clearly noticeable: Our specialists report that significantly more children suffer from anxiety or show challenging behavior, that they are more irritable and that the challenges are very great, especially with language learning deficits. That weighs heavily on the teachers.
In April you wrote an incendiary letter with the “Kita-Stimme.Berlin” association. It was about the approximately 2000 children who do not attend early intervention, although they are legally obliged to do so. What has become of it?
The reactions to our campaign were gratifyingly numerous: Several districts and also the Senate Department for Youth invited us to talks. We have learned that almost all districts deal with this problem differently and that there is no uniform procedure. As a result, these families are not guaranteed places, but have to apply for a voucher themselves.
But this is exactly what should have changed since the summer of 2022. The law was changed, school authorities now have to find day care places themselves. Doesn’t that work yet?
From our point of view, the problem is that the school authorities cannot find daycare places where there are none. And they also have no regular contact with the day-care centers or day-care providers.
Then the administration is treading water despite the fire letter?
Unfortunately, our offer to help quickly and unbureaucratically despite the lack of space, a lack of skilled workers and despite additional children who had fled the Ukraine went unheeded. I think most of the people we spoke to didn’t even know what we were offering them on a silver platter. Above all, the Senate Administration very quickly made it clear that our idea of temporarily overcrowding around two percent of the actual capacity was not supported.
… because the staff ratio is already problematic in many places. Isn’t that understandable?
An essential part of our offer was that the staff will be increased according to the additional number of children. But even that could not convince the administration. The shortage of daycare places will therefore remain for a long time to come.
Do you see a way to increase the rate of children reached?
First of all, you have to be honest: Is it really enough to equate the number of childcare vouchers applied for with the need? Or, in a cosmopolitan city like Berlin, shouldn’t one assume that not every family in need of care will make its way through the administrative jungle or even start it at all? We could also find and support these parents as providers – for example through day-care center social work. But what’s the point if we can’t offer places? The Senate’s day-care center expansion planning must urgently be based on the real needs of all parents, which would have to be surveyed separately. At the moment the motto is: Don’t see what you don’t want to see.
Where are there still dangers lurking for daycare expansion?
We are concerned that rental properties do not have perpetual terms. Unfortunately, we will lose a daycare center in 2023 and will in the next few years have to fight for some locations. We have also not received any subsidies for the construction of new day care centers for several years. This is the case for many providers, since new daycare centers are said to be more expensive than extensions or conversions. And the funding has not been adjusted for years: the funding is currently 30,000 euros per place, but the costs will increase to at least 60,000 euros in 2023/24. The cost development is currently very crass.
Is there a prospect of how Berlin can create the 17,000 daycare places that, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation, are still missing for 2023?
That would cost more than half a billion euros – money that is currently not in sight. But there is another problem: In order for the places to be offered, more skilled workers are needed. Unfortunately, the public sector in Berlin is increasingly withdrawing from teacher training.
Do you anticipate more lawsuits? Or do the refugees simply fall through the cracks because they can’t defend themselves and can’t sue for places?
My thesis is that many families fail when applying for a daycare voucher or give up at the latest when there is a shortage of daycare places – also because they don’t know our way around very well. I think it is unlikely that these parents would sue.
The Senate Department for Youth has undertaken a lot in terms of quality development. Critics warn against “schooling” daycare centers. Do you see this danger?
Of course, education in the day-care center works completely differently than in school – it is our greatest advantage that we can support children individually and self-determinedly. Nevertheless, it is important that both worlds can work well together and meet without prejudice. It shouldn’t be about who has the better understanding of education – what matters is how we get the best out of our children. To do this, we have to pool our expertise instead of separating it according to institutions.
Some parents would be happy if the teachers spoke German properly.
Our day-care centers in Berlin are becoming more and more diverse and our specialists deal with more and more family languages. Team members who speak German as a second language are often a relief and enrich day-to-day day-care center work with additional perspectives. If the German language skills are not sufficient, in my opinion the providers have a duty to organize appropriate language courses.
You are involved in the Chamber of Industry and Commerce – a rather unusual step for a day-care center manager. What drives you?
Of the 320,000 member companies of the IHK Berlin, only about 2000 members are non-profit organizations. There are around 9,000 companies that place a socio-political contribution in the areas of the environment, sustainability or social issues above the pursuit of profit – and the number is growing. Unfortunately, they have hardly been seen in the past, but that is changing and I would like to make a contribution to this.
What is your biggest wish for a daycare center in 2023?
That education policy in the city consists less of justifications for the past and that plans for the future are finally being made again. If the “but we’ve already done this” attitude became a “but we can do this together” attitude – that could certainly make a difference.
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