Private kindergartens are afraid that employees will run away to the municipal ones for better conditions – NRK Troms and Finnmark

– We don’t know if it works, but something has to be done. If we don’t do something now, many children in Alta could lose their nursery place from the autumn, says Gry Røe.

Røe is a director of Breidablikk nursery school, one of the municipal nurseries in the city where the municipality now wants to take action.

The proposal for a free day off

The proposal from the municipal administration is to give full pay for 80 percent of working time. That the employees work four days a week, but get paid for five.

The measure is being tested elsewhere, including in Hammerfest municipality.

– This is an attempt to recruit and retain employees in the nursery sector. Because here we see that things are going crazy with people, says Anita Håkegård Pedersen.

She is the leader of the main committee for upbringing, culture and integration in Alta municipality.

Now Pedersen watches with horror and horror that a number of employees have had enough.

Several have quit their jobs in favor of other positions, and will not return after the summer holidays.

This means that 42 places for young children, corresponding to five wards for young children, will be empty in the autumn if new people are not brought in.

And this only applies to the municipal kindergartens.

In the private kindergartens in the city, figures show that at least 11 places cannot be filled because there is a lack of people.

– It came like a bomb on us

Gøril Kristiansen is a board member of the National Association of Private Kindergartens (PBL), its local team in Alta, and is a board member of Komsatoppen Kindergarten.

She thinks it is good that the municipality is taking the situation seriously.

But she reacts to the fact that the private nurseries have not been taken into consideration.

– It came like a bomb on us. We were not aware that the municipality had worked out such a proposal. We would have appreciated being able to take part in this process, says Kristiansen.

She fears that employees in the private kindergartens will seek jobs at the municipal kindergartens, if the proposal for a free day off goes through.

– Fifty percent of the children in Alta go to private kindergarten. So this will affect a lot of children, she says.

All over the country, kindergarten staff have quit their jobs, or said they are considering doing so. When people are sick, many places no longer have substitutes to bring in.

In Alta, this has led to parents several times in the past year having to pick up their children early from nursery school.

– In some cases they have had to stay home from work because the nursery has had to remain closed all day. So this affects the whole society, says Håkegård Pedersen.

She says that they will now take the private nurseries on board for advice.

– This is a common challenge that we must solve together.

– Probably won’t go through

But whether the new proposal is the solution, Alta’s municipal director, Oddvar Konst, is highly uncertain.

– The case that has come forward now shows desperation in the kindergarten sector in Alta, says Const.

The proposal for a free day off a week for kindergarten staff was discussed in the main committee this week. The next stop is at the chairman’s office on Wednesday next week.

– The political signals I have received indicate that the proposal will not go through, says Konst.

Konst adds that it is extremely important to maintain the workforce in the nurseries. And he understands that measures must be taken.

Think sick leave will go down with a day off

In the municipal kindergarten Breidablikk, the employees are nevertheless positive about the proposal for a free day off a week.

Director Gry Røe hopes the municipality dares to think again. She refers to a number of other professions where good people hang loose when you lack people. For example in the nursing and medical professions.

– Working in a nursery is demanding. There are many people who are unable to work 100 per cent, says Røe, who believes that sick leave would decrease with an extra day off.

She believes that the responsibility does not just rest with the municipalities.

– This is a predicted crisis that the authorities have known about for many, many years. It must be possible to both pay off a home loan and pay other bills when you work in a nursery, says the director.