Marianne Borgenvik Kveseth started the signature campaign “My child – my choice” in April. Since then, parents all over the country have signed. They are not agreed in the government’s new strategy for the kindergartens. The mother of two in Lillehammer believes that in future the municipalities will be more free to allocate nursery places. – It is not the municipality that knows what the individual child needs, it is the parents. WANT TO CHOOSE YOURSELF: Borgenvik Kveseth has two children in Lundgardløkka kindergarten at Jørstadmoen in Lillehammer municipality. She fears that this will be the last year the parents themselves will be in kindergarten for their children. Photo: Line Marie Fosser Vogt / news Adapt daycare provision In the new year, then Minister of Education Tonje Brenna (Ap) presented the new daycare strategy to the government. According to the government, the strategy should ensure a more equal supply across the country and at the same time ensure higher quality. Then the government believes that the municipalities need more flexibility and better opportunities to govern locally than they have today. – Kindergartens are an important welfare offer for our children. Therefore, we think it is right that the municipalities get more democratic control and management of the entire nursery sector, Brenna told barnehage.no in January. 11,000 SIGNATURES: Kindergarten mothers Madeleine Reiersølmoen and Marianne Borgenvik Kveseth hand over the signatures to State Secretary Synnøve Mjeldheim Skaar (Ap). Photo: Arne Sørenes / news State Secretary Synnøve Mjeldheim Skaar accepted the signatures on behalf of the newly appointed Minister of Knowledge, Kari Nessa Nortun (Ap). Skaar says the government wants a better framework for all children in the municipalities to have a good childcare offer. – Then the municipalities must have better opportunities to facilitate the long-term framework for all the kindergartens. Madeleine Reiersølmoen from Arendal and Marianne Borgenvik Kveseth also had the opportunity to present their case at the Ministry of Education this morning. The State Secretary believes that parents do not need to worry about the opportunity to choose. – I can be happy that there is no one who intends to do anything with their parents’ freedom of choice. We primarily intend to ensure that everyone gets good kindergartens. And she adds: – It is more about long-term frameworks than about detailed management at the individual site. WANTS DIVERSITY: State Secretary Synnøve Mjeldheim Skaar says she understands the concern but adds that it is not as planned, as the parents have perceived the strategy. – I think it’s nice that we have a variety of nurseries and that parents can choose a nursery. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news During the autumn, the government will present the proposal for a new management and financing system for the kindergartens. The proposal is then sent out for consultation. – If the child goes to a nursery they don’t fit in, it can have consequences further on in life, says the mother of two. – In addition to free choice of nursery places, it will also be possible to go beyond the small ideal nurseries. – We think the proposal is completely behind the mark and therefore I thought we had to take action, says Borgenvik Kveseth. Fear of freedom of choice The strategy has not only met with opposition from families with children. Karita Bekkemellem, managing director of NHO Geneo, believes the government is challenging the principle adopted in the Storting – namely that public and private nurseries must be treated equally. She believes that the parents’ opportunity to choose different offers has contributed to the fact that kindergartens are today perceived as part of the education course in Norway. – We fear that the children’s best will come second. One consequence of the strategy is that the principle of equal treatment may erode. The variety of kindergartens we have will change. Therefore, Bekkemellom fully supports the appeal, and adds: – It is so incredibly good and unique about this campaign, that the youngest children are lifted. UNMANAGEMENT: The managing director of NHO Geneo, Karita Bekkemellem, points out that the strategy can lead to more unmanageability and make it difficult to invest in the private kindergartens in the longer term. – This means that you can get more untenable framework conditions, and worsen the financial situation that the kindergartens are in. Photo: Pressefoto / NHO Geneo Jørn-Tommy Schjelderup, managing director of the National Association of Private Kindergartens (PBL), says the strategy can look like a investment in kindergartens. But for the private kindergartens he has contact with, the experience is different. – When the government’s kindergarten strategy facilitates what we believe is even more discrimination against children and kindergartens, we believe there is reason to pull the emergency brake. Among other things, he points out that the municipality should be able to control who should be able to offer nursery places. – Then parents who use a private nursery today can, in practice, be told that this will not be an offer in the future. SUPPORTS THE CALL: Jørn-Tommy Schjelderup, managing director of the National Association of Private Kindergartens, agrees with the parents behind the call. – We have great understanding that many parents react to the fact that the government will give the municipalities the right to govern also when it comes to admissions, sizing and capacity. Photo: Pressefoto / Private Kindergartens National Association This afternoon, Marianne Borgenvik Kveseth will also meet Abid Raja (V). He wants to fight on behalf of his parents. – I wholeheartedly support this initiative. Now the government is challenging the principle of parental democracy. We will therefore take up the fight to ensure that the parents themselves will be able to choose what is best for their children. All the way back in March, KrF’s Kjell Ingolf Ropstad asked the Minister of Education whether the freedom of choice of children’s families should not be the basis for kindergarten offers. Municipalities need flexibility Kristin Holm Jensen, department director of the Central Association of Municipalities (KS), says it can be difficult for municipalities to provide an offer in the current system that takes care of all their needs. Today, the municipality cannot make changes to a private kindergarten. – If, for example, there are fewer children and a need for fewer places, the offer can only be reduced in municipal kindergartens and not in private ones, even if the parents should prefer the municipal kindergarten. She believes the strategy will ensure that the municipality gets better opportunities to dimension and develop the kindergartens, and that it will benefit all children and families. GOOD OFFERS: Kristin Holm Jensen, department director of the Central Association of Municipalities, believes that both municipal and private nurseries offer qualitatively good offers. She adds that the current funding model works out differently for the nurseries, depending, among other things, on the size and needs of the children’s groups. Photo: Pressefoto / KS Ifølgje Jensen, many municipalities have good cooperation with private kindergartens, and she expects that they will continue to do so in the future. – The municipality is governed by elected officials who are close to the local community, and who want to take care of their families’ wishes and needs as far as possible. Delivered 11,000 signatures to the Minister of Knowledge The initiator has been trying for a long time to arrange a meeting with the Minister of Knowledge. Today she met State Secretary Synnøve Mjeldheim Skaar (Ap) on her first day of work. Borgenvik Kveseth did not have high expectations before the meeting, but was concerned that the politicians must listen to the parents. – I hope the parents can still choose where their children will go to kindergarten in the future and I hope the government will change the wording of the strategy. WILL CHANGE THE STRATEGY: The kindergarten rebellion started at a SU meeting in Lundgardløkka kindergarten. After receiving a lot of response, Borgenvik Kveseth started a signature campaign to show the government how many people are against the new kindergarten strategy that was presented in January. She hopes the initiative can lead to change. Photo: Line Marie Fosser Vogt / news
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Marianne Borgenvik Kveseth has collected 11,000 signatures against the government’s kindergarten strategy – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
