The Helsinki Cathedral on 6 November 2023. The City of Helsinki is about 1,300 short of the over 2,600 early-childhood education teachers it requires, according to a report by Helsingin Sanomat. In September, the report indicates, almost 300 of the positions were unfilled, meaning the duties were performed by short-term substitutes. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
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THE CITY OF HELSINKI continues to need roughly 1,300 early-childhood education teachers, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
The newspaper revealed yesterday that around 1,000 of the 1,300 teacher positions are presently held by childminders without teacher qualifications, whereas the remaining almost 300 positions are unfilled, with the duties performed by short-term substitutes.
The situation is expected to become worse before it becomes better as the share of under three-year-olds in daycare is rising all the while a growing share of existing early-childhood teachers are reaching the retirement age, with stricter staffing requirements set to enter into force in 2030. The Finnish capital has consequently estimated that it will require an additional 1,720 teachers and social services professionals in early-childhood education by 2030.
Two-thirds of kindergarten staff have to be highly educated by the end of the decade.
There have been positive signs, too. The city has not had to close playgrounds this autumn in order to move staff to daycare centres due to the improved availability of short-term substitutes.
“The situation is calmer. We’ve sort of learned to live with the staff shortage. Working in daycare centres is perceived as meaningful and it also produces moments of joy every day,” Miia Kemppi, the director of early-childhood education at the City of Helsinki, commented to Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday.
The shortage of early-childhood education teachers may be bad, but that of special-needs early-childhood education teachers is even worse, the newspaper wrote.
In September, vacancy postings generated on average fewer than one application – possibly in part because of the newly started school year. Vacancy postings for social services professionals in early-childhood education similarly failed to generate an influx of applications.
While there were more applications to vacancy postings for childminders, with the team responsible for filling up unexpected needs around the city of particular interest to applicants, a childminder filling in for an early-childhood teacher is often replaced by someone not qualified for the role, the newspaper reminded.
The City of Helsinki has prepared for the stricter staffing requirements by converting the positions vacated by retiring childminders to positions for teachers or social services professionals. Kemppi stated to Helsingin Sanomat that neither the city nor the state alone can solve the crisis.
“A broader discussion about education policy has started. It’s important that funding for study places in the field and especially for multiform education is guaranteed on a permanent basis,” she underlined.
Helsinki has also long sought to increase on-the-job training opportunities for aspiring childminders.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
