Erfurt/Gütersloh (dpa/th) - According to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, Thuringia can recruit enough skilled workers for good all-day support for primary school children by 2030 - and thus achieve a childcare ratio like in the west. This need can probably be covered, according to the "Specialist Radar for KiTa and primary school 2022", which the foundation presented on Tuesday. However, the legal framework for better staffing must now be created so that the additional specialists can also be hired.
According to the foundation, 90 percent of children of primary school age in Thuringia currently use an all-day offer. According to the information, this is above the average value of the eastern German federal states of 83 percent. In addition, 2 percent in Bavaria would use an overnight offer that is available until around 2:30 p.m. The East German average is 3.5 percent. "By 2030, Thuringia will be able to offer all-day schooling for all children of primary school age if the specialists who are likely to be available are also hired," the authors of the study conclude.
Thuringia could offer a place for every child by the end of the decade without expecting a shortage of staff. However, the foundation advocated improving the personnel situation in the Free State, as well as in the other East German federal states.
Orientation is provided by the country-specific ratio of a teacher to students, which is 1 to 14.7 in West Germany and 1 to 15.6 in Thuringia. With the additional specialists to be hired, the staffing could be brought into line with the West by the end of the decade. Thuringia could use part of the federal funds to fulfill the legal claim, it said.
