– You love your job as a kindergarten teacher, at least I do. It’s a very rewarding job, says Jenny Kårstad. The 33-year-old is an educational leader at Vie kindergarten in Førde. She herself has good experiences in her job, but it does not surprise her that others have worse experiences. Because a new report from the Swedish Education Association shows that poor staffing affects the quality of kindergartens. One of the main findings is that only 13 percent of kindergarten teachers in Norway get to use the hours set aside to plan the educational content in the kindergarten. Kårstad believes that many kindergarten teachers feel that they are not enough. – I think they realize that they don’t get to do their job the way they want, and that they end up walking around with a bad conscience, she says. Meiner kindergarten is “reduced to a supervisory arrangement” In 1972, the kindergarten teacher had four hours a week for planning work. Today, the requirement is still at least four hours. But very few manage to find time for this in the working day. – The demand for educational content has increased, but the time allocated to planning in kindergarten has remained the same since the 1970s, says Kårstad. Almost four out of five explain the lack of time for planning by the fact that they see it as inadvisable to leave the children. Jenny Kårstad is one of the few who gets to use the minimum four hours set aside for planning. Photo: Julie Haugen / news The county manager of the Education Association in Vestland, Steinar Strømsli, tells news that they constantly receive reports that kindergarten teachers do not have time to take advantage of the lessons, because they are forced to be out in the department with the children. – It is very burdensome for the employees and when it happens over time, which it does according to our reports, it is not surprising that some people want to get away from work and find something else to do, he says. The head of the Education Association, Steffen Handal, believes that low staffing means that the nursery is “reduced to a supervision scheme”. – BURDEN: Steinar Strømsli in the Danish Education Association says that they constantly receive reports that kindergarten teachers do not have time to take advantage of the lessons, because they are forced to be out in the department with the children. Photo: Brit Jorunn Svanes / news Staffing crisis In Norway, there is a shortage of almost 2,600 kindergarten teacher-years to fulfill the kindergarten teacher standard. Norma tells what proportion of the nursery staff will be nursery teachers. Today, it is 43 percent. Strømsli believes that both the kindergarten teacher norm and the staffing norm must be strengthened. The staffing norm is the basic staffing in the nursery school. – We are forced to get the central authorities to change the legislation so that we strengthen both the teacher standards and the staffing standards, they are simply too bad, he says. Want to employ 13,300 kindergarten teachers by 2030 This spring, the government adopted a new target whereby 60 per cent of employees in kindergartens must be kindergarten teachers by 2030. If the target is to be reached, 13,300 kindergarten teachers must be appointed within seven years in a profession where the number of applicants is falling and more are looking for to stop. State Secretary Kjetil Vevle believes it is important to emphasize that Norwegian kindergartens are very good and take good care of our children every single day. Photo: Ministry of Education In an e-mail, State Secretary for the Ministry of Education Kjetil Vevle replies: “The government has high ambitions to both increase the proportion of skilled workers and kindergarten teachers in the coming years. We owe it to the children, but it is also important for those who work with the children.” After the government presented its proposal for the state budget on Friday, Steffen Handal, head of the Danish Education Association, believes that there are neither funds here to solve the acute staffing crisis nor a plan to reach the target of 60 per cent kindergarten teachers.
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Norway lacks 2,600 kindergarten teachers – many cannot stand the time pressure and quit after three years – news Vestland
