Kitas in Cologne: Too many first graders remain - what now?

Kitas in Cologne: Too many first graders remain - what now?

The educational situation in Cologne is currently the focus of the discussion, especially with regard to the high number of first graders who have to repeat the school year. Current numbers show an alarming record high among the repeaters, which indicates serious defects in the language skills of the children. The main reason for this problem is inadequate language promotion, which also wakes up political demand for a Kita-obligation in the last year before schooling . This requirement is supported by Berivan Aymaz (Greens) and Torsten Burmester (SPD), who are committed to just starting opportunities for all children.

Burmester describes the visit to the daycare center as a “suitable means” in order to open up better opportunities in particular for children with linguistic needs. The situation is tightened by the fact that around 80 percent of Cologne's four -year -olds who do not visit a daycare center have not appeared on the mandatory language tests. Greitemann from the CDU sharply criticizes this: "Something is going wrong here" and demands binding support programs for all children with language deficits.

critical lack of daycare places

The lack of suitable daycare places is particularly blatant in districts such as Chorweiler and Mülheim. In Chorweiler, only 80 percent of three to six-year-olds have access to a daycare center. In addition, an analysis shows that ten percent of the first grader year in Cologne has not visited a daycare center, whereby this number mainly affects children with a migration background.

In order to be able to counter the challenge, the FDP calls for the reintroduction of the preschool for children with language deficits. The NRW Ministry of School is currently examining how language support can be legally mandatory until schooling. Linguistic funding is not only necessary for the affected children, but also for society as a whole. It helps to gain migrant children to gain access to education and social contacts, which is of great importance for their integration, such as "https://www.livingquarter.de/bildungsbote-fuer-migrantenkinder-integration-und-foerderung/"> Living Quarter explained.

The importance of language support

The support of children with non-German origin language is crucial to reduce language barriers. In daycare centers, multilingual children are often perceived as an enrichment, whereby linguistic challenges for educators remain. Children who do not speak German need patient explanations and alternative communication methods to understand and express instructions. Pro-Kita recommends to implement language support playfully and interactively, with various exercises and rituals expanding the vocabulary.

Linguistic funding should begin in preschool age, as this is learned by basic language skills. However, the lack of qualified teachers and differentiated learning offers is a great obstacle. Overarching measures to promote the "German as a second language" (DAZ) program are crucial to enable the integration of Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian and other migrant children.

increased focus on parenting participation is also necessary to promote the school success of migrant children, since linguistic barriers and ignorance of the education system often represent an additional hurdle.

The integration and formation of migrant children remains a central task of society and not only a challenge, but also a significant opportunity to live and integrate cultural diversity.