Tervuren has no ready-made solution to the lingering staff shortage at nursery De Tovereik. Parents recently received another letter announcing that their children could not attend the nursery several days a week.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a ready-made solution to solve the staff shortages,” said N-VA Lut Kint, outgoing alderwoman for childcare and family policy. The childcare crisis is not only acute in Tervuren, but also in many other municipalities. The new Flemish government has promised to invest more money and create 10,000 extra positions over five years.
Staff shortages create major headaches for parents when arranging alternative childcare solutions. “They have been told that the crèche cannot accommodate all children due to staffing problems and that they are therefore introducing a rota system: each child is therefore not allowed to attend the crèche for x number of days a week until the situation improves,” said councillor Geoffroy De Visscher (Tervuren Unie). He wanted to know what agreements the municipality made with concession holder Helan. Will a minimum service be guaranteed even with staff shortages?
Kint told town council that Tervuren’s concession agreement gives Helan responsibility for day-to-day staff management and operational decisions, including resolving staff shortages. And childcare like De Tovereik must comply with strict standards in Flanders.
Photo. © Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Source/author: Robbie Sproule.
