Several trade unions and organizations are advocating for improvements in the quality of Danish kindergartens, emphasizing the need for a more educated staff. This announcement follows the release of a recent national survey which revealed that only a small fraction, nine percent, of kindergartens provide a good pedagogical learning environment.

The survey’s findings have sparked concern among various stakeholders, including trade unions like FOA and educators’ unions like Bupl, as well as organizations dedicated to children’s welfare such as Børns Vilkår.

Thomas Enghausen, the vice chairman of FOA, expressed his dismay at the survey results, highlighting the need for more colleagues in daycare institutions due to the constant feeling of inadequacy among the existing staff. He also pointed out that there are not enough colleagues to create the small groups of children, which are so important for creating well-being, also for children in vulnerable positions. Enghausen emphasized that simply increasing the number of employees isn’t sufficient; the proportion of trained educators and pedagogical assistants must also be increased.

Similarly, Børns Vilkår believes that there is a shortage of educators and that their education is inadequate. Rasmus Kjeldahl, director of Børns Vilkår, stated that not enough has happened in the daycare area since the last quality assessment. He emphasized the need for immediate action to address the poor evaluation results, within the framework of the financial and professional resources available.

Bupl chairman Elisa Rimpler echoed these concerns, highlighting that professionalism is at rock bottom when only half of the staff has an educator education, which creates poor conditions for the pedagogical quality that children are entitled to.

Minister for Children and Education Mattias Tesfaye acknowledged that the quality in kindergartens is not good enough and admitted that investments in kindergartens were initiated too late. However, he noted that efforts are now underway, including hiring more staff, raising wages, and introducing a new educator education program. Tesfaye pledged to closely monitor the quality of kindergartens in the coming period, with the expectation of significantly better results in the future.