Emergency care again: what the lack of educators means for a day care center

Laura-Marlen Schetat sits on the floor and hits a singing bowl. It’s a Monday in May, the clock on the wall shows nine, the morning circle begins. Each child takes turns telling what they experienced at the weekend. Elif, five years old, was eating ice cream and jumping on the trampoline. Arvid, a year older, bought new shoes with his parents and is so proud of his mountain bike helmet that he doesn’t even want to take it off. Mariella went on a bike ride. And Thilo was stuck in traffic and had to wait a long time.

Normally, Schetat doesn’t sit with the children in the morning. She is the head of the “Green Island II” day-care center and actually has her hands full in the office of the day-care center in the Niederrad district of Frankfurt. But if a teacher calls in sick or for some other reason the staffing level is too short, she has to step in. This is very often the case in the “Emerald Isle”. Like almost all facilities in Frankfurt, this day care center also suffers from the shortage of skilled workers. Two out of six positions are vacant, and the facility just keeps its head above water with pedagogical assistants.