– We have sometimes had to close departments. At other times we have had to ask parents to collect their children earlier due to low staffing. It’s not easy, says director of IMI kindergarten in Alta, Anne Karin Forsberg. Anne-Karin Forsberg is a board member at IMI kindergarten, in Alta. They struggle with staffing and ask for extra help via Facebook. – We need on-call temporary workers ASAP. Get in touch, she encourages. Photo: Jonas Løken Estenstad / news Forsberg has now used Facebook to ask people to sign up as extra help. In the first quarter of this year, sickness absence on a national basis was 7.07 per cent. For the nursery sector, sickness absence in the same period was 11.7 per cent. This number has risen steadily since 2018. IMI kindergarten in Alta is now looking for on-call substitutes on Facebook. Photo: Screen dump Facebook Vicious cycle In combination with very low unemployment in Norway, 3.2 per cent, this has created “the perfect storm” for the nursery sector. There are few to choose from when looking for substitutes for those who are ill. Forsberg fears the consequences, both in the short and long term. – The fact that we can’t get hold of temporary workers means that we get more wear and tear on those who are at work. They have to take the brunt. – This has been particularly visible in August and September, when we are getting used to the nursery. This again means that we run the risk of more sick calls because people are tired, she says. – Too few hands For Utdanningsforbundet, this is old news. For several years, they have tried to warn about the staffing crisis in the nursery sector. In 2021, among other things, questions were raised about how long the employees in the kindergartens will be able to hold out. – The total basic staffing in the kindergartens is too low. We have been given stricter pedagogic standards and staffing standards, but these are too fragile. And that means that there will be greater wear and tear on the staffing overall. – We simply have too few employees and too many children, says central board member of the Education Association, Mari Ann Milo Lorentzen. – We have too few hands and too many children in Norwegian kindergartens, says Mari Ann Milo Lorentzen of the Education Association. Photo: Stig Weston More to the municipalities The Ministry of Education is, according to State Secretary Halvard Hølleland, aware of the staffing crisis in Norwegian kindergartens. He says the government is taking measures to remedy the problem. – Firstly, we have increased the municipal budgets quite sharply in 2022. This means that the municipalities have more money to employ more people in permanent positions. – At the same time, we have a focus on educating more kindergarten teachers and skilled workers. We have to make it so that more people want to work in the kindergartens. But it will take time before we see the impact of these measures, Hølleland believes. State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Halvard Hølleland (Ap), is aware of the staffing crisis in the country’s kindergartens. – We have to make it attractive to work in a nursery school, he says. – Are vulnerable There is no doubt, however, that the government has a tough task ahead of it. Because not since 2013 have there been such low numbers of applicants to kindergarten teacher training as this year. In the meantime, they are at IMI kindergarten in Alta. What Forsberg hopes for is that there will be national guidelines that will strengthen staffing in kindergartens. – I hope that the staffing standard will be increased. That is my greatest wish right now. Then we would be less vulnerable in the event of absence. And at the same time, the quality of the offer provided would improve, she says.
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Kindergartens in the country are struggling to get people to work, in Alta they are looking on Facebook – news Troms and Finnmark
