The weather is cloudy, but it fits the mood: In Graz on Friday afternoon, parents and staff are demonstrating because of the acute crisis in many kindergartens and crèches. Several groups had to be closed, many families are desperate.
It rained all day in Graz, sometimes in torrents. It was no different at 4 p.m. Nevertheless, around 200 participants came to Griesplatz for the “family demo”. This was organized by a few private individuals on Facebook after the childcare crisis was getting worse. Due to the lack of staff, a total of eight groups had to be closed at the sponsoring organizations Gip and Wiki, and 15 others had to be switched to half-day care. (Interestingly, according to the education councilor Werner Amon, only five group closures and eight opening time reductions are known in the state of Styria.) 146 remaining places availableHundreds of parents are affected by the measures and have to find alternative childcare places. Fortunately, new opportunities are opening up here: According to Amon’s office, there are still 146 remaining places in Graz and the surrounding area, and 23 more were added on Friday. But it is also clear that the families would sometimes have to put up with longer journeys. In the childcare facilities, dissatisfaction has continued to increase in recent years. The number of childcare places was greatly expanded, and the number of staff could hardly keep up. The employees’ workload is just as great as the anger at bureaucratic harassment. Controversial bonus as a lifeline? In the summer, the supporting organizations urgently warned against group closures, which actually became reality. The state government reacted in August with an initial package of measures, which includes a bonus of 15,000 euros for trained newcomers and career changers as well as for employees who work full-time. While existing staff find the bounty unfair, Amon says it has narrowly prevented closures in some cases (“the rescue”).
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