Munich (dpa / lby) - The Education and Science Union (GEW) calls for the continuation of the language daycare centers in Bavaria. The federal program was supposed to expire at the end of this year, but the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs recently announced that funding would be extended until summer 2023. The Free State must now act quickly, maintain the structures and ensure the long-term financing of the program, said GEW Bayern. The union demands that the state use its own funds and use the budget for Bavaria from the Federal Daycare Quality Act for further quality improvements.
Since 2016, the federal government has been funding additional staff at daycare centers for language development through the "Language Daycare Centers" program. With the transitional solution until the summer of 2023, the states are expected to continue to finance the language day-care centers afterwards.
According to the GEW, four other federal states have already decided to continue the language day-care centers at state level. In Bavaria, on the other hand, more than 800 additional specialists do not know whether they will still be employed from January 1, 2023. "It is unacceptable that the responsibility for education is tossed back and forth between the federal and state governments like a hot potato and that the victims are the children, parents and employees," said Alfons Kunze, board member at GEW Munich.
The IQB education trend has certified Bavaria that 14.1 percent of the fourth graders did not reach the minimum standards when reading and 13.4 percent when listening, added Hilger Uhlenbrock, spokesman for the specialist group for social educational professions of the regional association of the GEW. It is incomprehensible that Bavaria does not have the necessary funds to continue the program.
