Education in Germany is a state matter. It is not controlled centrally, but by the 16 federal states. Kindergartens are a voluntary education and care offer to families and not subject of the public education system, as compulsory education only starts with primary school, usually at the age of 6. As a consequence, kindergartens do not follow national education policies, but can decide – in the best case based on guidelines – whether they want to focus on certain subjects, such as sustainability development.
The entire environment of kindergarten education in Germany is primarily shaped by one factor – demand. Over the years, the demand for more places has been steadily growing. In 2021, there were more than 3,800,000 places available – an increase of more than 800,000 places compared to 2006 (Innengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung. Bildung in Deutschland 2022. Ein indikatorengestützter Bericht mit einer Analysezum Bildungspersonal. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung. 2022). In other words, around 1 in 5 of today’s places has been created in the last 15 years. There are 54, 627 institutions of various types in existence, with an average of 70 places. 3.4% of the institutions are day centers for children under 3 years of age, 32.1% – for children aged 2 to 8, excluding schoolchildren, and the remaining 64.4% offer services for several age groups. 31.9% of the institutions are publicly owned, 33.4% are offered by confessional carriers (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish etc.), 16.7% – by non-confessional carriers (such as the German Red Cross), 15% – by other carriers (such as Youth organizations), and 3 % – by private or commercial carriers. In 2020, 637,630 people were employed nationwide as teachers or managers in daycare centres – corresponding to an increase of about one third compared to the approximately 408,000 people who worked in daycare centres in 2011.
Perhaps the greatest current challenge of the early childcare system is the shortage of skilled workers in daycare centres, which has persisted for years. Although significantly more people have been trained in the last decade, the demand could be met less and less due to the further expansion of places. This problem will continue for some years, especially in western Germany. At the same time, the pandemic has exacerbated this staff shortage. Pedagogical staff repeatedly reached the limits of their capacity. Individual states reacted to this emergency by opening up to less pedagogically qualified persons, which is likely to contribute to a further strain on the available specialists. In order to counter the shortage of specialists, efforts must be intensified to recruit students from relevant pedagogical courses as part-time staff.
