The Carinthian Parents’ Association sounds the alarm. The teachers run out of afternoon care. There is also an explosion in costs.
According to the parents’ association, the shortage of teachers is now also having an effect on afternoon care. “The old service law was much more attractive for the teaching staff. They were paid for after-school care. Now they only get half the money for it and nobody wants to teach in the afternoon anymore!” explains Werner Rainer from the Carinthian Parents’ Association. But that’s not the only problem. “The costs are exploding! In the past three years, the childcare costs for five days a week per month have risen by a whole 40 percent – i.e. from 120.54 euros to 168.80 euros,” reports a worried mother. “Parents cannot afford it,” Rainer continues : “For single parents or those who have more than one child, this is anything but reasonable. There are parents who would like to go to work, but cannot afford it because of the expensive childcare and therefore bring their child home.” Lower federal support Peter Heymich from the Association of Municipalities explains this increase as follows: “Federal funds have been reduced. The annual funding per group was around 9,000 euros, now it is 3,500. Carinthia therefore only receives two million euros in support per year. This is mainly due to the increased wage costs for leisure time teachers.” Enormous demand despite the costs However, there is also a shortage among leisure time teachers: “This prevails because the demand for childcare groups continues to rise despite the high costs. In the previous year alone, demand rose by ten percent,” confirms the parents’ association. And the different school providers don’t make things any easier: “For each type of school, a different provider is responsible – municipal, federal or state. The costs are therefore also different in the schools. There needs to be a standardization!”
