Dahlen is planning restructuring: daycare centers are about to switch to independent ownership!

Dahlen is planning restructuring: daycare centers are about to switch to independent ownership!

Exciting things are happening in Dahlen with regard to the future sponsorship of the municipal daycare centers. The city plans to take municipal daycare centers and after-school care centers out of public service and hand them over to independent providers. This decision is causing a lot of conversation among the employees of the city's daycare centers and worries about their working conditions. How lvz.de Reportedly, at the last city council meeting, a motion for a resolution was submitted by five members, which provides for the sponsorship to be put out to tender.

The aim of this measure is to hand over the daycare centers to suitable public or recognized providers with the appropriate experience and expertise. The city administration should then prepare and implement a tender by mid-2026 at the latest. Numerous daycare employees were present during this meeting and had learned about the plans through newspaper reports. Unfortunately, they did not find space during the meeting to express their displeasure directly, but were able to use the residents' question time to voice their concerns.

Concerns and withdrawal of the application

At the meeting, human resources councilor Ines Petzold expressed sharp criticism of the lack of communication between the city administration and the affected employees. This is part of the core question, because the choice of sponsorship has significant effects on legal, financial and educational aspects. Mayor Matthias Löwe made it clear that despite the transfer to independent ownership, financial responsibility remains with the city.

Head of the department Marie-Luise Schüttler also raised concerns about the legal certainty of the resolution presented. After a short discussion, Tobias Ballier, one of the applicants, withdrew the application. However, he emphasized that there were no specific personnel problems and that the issue of independent daycare centers is not off the table. The city administration was commissioned to develop a new proposed resolution, which will be presented after a detailed review and communication with all those involved.

Sponsorship of daycare centers in Germany

The planned restructuring also sheds light on the general landscape of daycare providers in Germany. Loud naturkitas.de Over two thirds of daycare centers in Germany are run by independent providers, which is a central feature of the German educational landscape. There are two main groups of daycare providers: public providers, which are integrated into the local administration, and independent providers, such as the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO). There is already a daycare center in Dahlen that has been run by the AWO for years.

Public providers offer security in financial and organizational matters, while independent providers often enable more educational freedom and participation for parents and educators. The choice of sponsorship in particular influences how the daycare centers are run and what philosophy lies behind the education. This decision has far-reaching consequences for the parents, the managers and of course the educators in Dahlen.

The developments in Dahlen are therefore not only of local importance. They also represent a trend in Germany to rethink and redesign the sponsorship of daycare centers. It remains exciting to see how the city administration will proceed here and whether everyone involved will be included in the decision-making process.