The Education and Science Consortium (GEW) sees the FDP’s proposal to increase F

Doreen Cibernick, a member of the GEW board of directors, told DTS news agency the FDP has been vocal about an idea that sounds charming, “but is generally not practical.” “A daycare center cannot be compared to a school as a place of learning. Children up to the age of six need language models, especially when they are learning a second language.”

Day care centers in Germany were already experiencing a “high level of stress,” colleagues were overworked, and an above-average number nationwide “kept sick again and again,” according to Sibernick. In order to counter these conditions, the use of specialists with little knowledge of the language should be welcomed, but the existing staff should first be strengthened: “If these people also work in facilities outside the specialized key, then it can be useful”. Without German language skills, or just a little, “leading and escorting groups of children alone is not practical.” The Federation shares the FDP’s request for foreign qualifications to be recognized as quickly as possible. The time up to this recognition should be used as much as possible to acquire the first basic language skills. Qualification in the educational system, which includes examination of the legal and pedagogical foundations, is also indispensable for working with children. The FDP is responsible for the fact that a year ago the national program of day language centers was removed from the responsibility of the federal government and thus from the transfer of additional funds. “To make this proposal now seems hypocritical and a bit impractical,” Sibernik told DTS news agency. The German Kita Association considers the use of immigrant professionals in day-care centers as outlined in the FDP to be feasible, provided that they work “for a limited period of time and to a limited extent” in parallel with language acquisition.

DTS German Text Service News Agency GmbH