King Salman orders extension of Citizen's Account Program and additional support for a full year    Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Al Ittihad claims top spot in Saudi Pro League after victory over Al Fateh    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Saudi Arabia allows licensed flour milling companies to export flour    Saudi Arabia joins international partnership initiative to boost hydrogen economy    With 25 million monthly active users, Snap Inc. expands presence in Saudi Arabia to serve thriving community of creators, partners and clients    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Saudi delegation participates in the 7th U20 Deans Summit in Brazil    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Al Khaleej stuns Al Hilal with 3-2 victory, ending 57-match unbeaten run    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Strife in nation that invented the kindergarten
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 16 - 06 - 2009


German parents are voicing frustration as
kindergarten teachers stage running strikes for a sixth straight
week, demanding higher pay and increased personnel in pre-school
care, according to dpa.
Germany may have invented the kindergarten - the German word was
taken over into English - and its daycare has been the envy of the
world, but workers say all is not well among the sandpits, poster
paints and toys.
This week, 30,000 kindergarten staff from around Germany skipped
work to attend a noisy demonstration in the western city of Cologne,
protesting at conditions in municipally operated daycare centres.
Like their infant charges, the demonstrators blew whistles and
waved rattles, but trade union leaders called it one of the most
serious fights in the history of German education, aiming to end a
tradition of low pay at kindergartens.
Parents, and the children themselves, are starting to get fed up
with the long-running dispute. Support among parents for the teachers
is falling, and some lawyers have encouraged parents to sue for a
refund of fees.
The kindergartens employ qualified teachers, untrained assistants
and social workers who focus on children's social skills and
countering the harm from poverty and dysfunctional families.
The strikers are demanding better pay and better health care: work
in kindergartens can be unhealthy, and it's not only the germs.
"We know this is disrupting the parents' lives more and more,"
admitted a Cologne teacher, 41. "But we have to fight this one to the
end. I've been working in a kindergarten for 20 years. Every night
it's the same: I'm exhausted and I can't relax with my own kids.
"If our hours and staffing don't improve, I'll collapse."
Katja Brieske, who came from the central county of Giessen to
demonstrate in Cologne on Monday, said, "The pay does not reflect the
fact that we are actually teachers. We are educating the next
generation who are the future of our country.
"Yet we are earning only a minimal wage."
A teacher from Stuttgart wore a T-shirt to the demonstration
saying, "I love my work, but I don't do it for love."
She said she obtained her full-time job three months ago and
receives just 1,300 euros (1,800 dollars) per month after tax, far
less than a German mail deliverer for example would earn.
In the mid-town march, Gabriele Kopec from the central town of
Hattingen, said, "The daily pressure and the demands of the job have
grown enormously. We need more staff and a healthy working
environment. That would benefit the kiddies as well."
A 31-year-old teacher added, "Our job demands a teacher's complete
emotional resources and skills. It's draining."
Reducing numbers in each teacher's group of children, noise-
proofing and upgrading rooms, and providing modern equipment could
help too.
Banners at the rally declared, "We're worth more than we're paid,"
"100% trained, 100% work, 0% respect."
National politicians showed up and voiced support but they do not
administer kindergartens, which are operated within from municipal
budgets. Daycare fees are means-tested, meaning the poor pay little
or nothing for the service.
"Of course it makes us feel more important that Germany's family
minister and the leader of a political party come here and tell us we
are right, but they are just jumping on the bandwagon," said Dorothea
Schneider, a Frankfurt teacher.
"There's a general election coming up and its promises time."
Another teacher was even harsher: "The politicians are just here
to get airtime. Do they think we're stupid or something?"
That explains why there were jeers as Family Affairs Minister
Ursula von der Leyen and Social Democratic Party leader Franz
M}ntefering adressed the crowd.
Working parents who count on daycare are meanwhile at the end of
their tether, having used up leave and run out of time with backstops
such as grandparents and aunts. Small children are puzzled and
sometimes distressed by the stoppages.
"Parents feel betrayed," said Eike Ostendorf-Servissoglou who
heads the Cologne Association of Working Mothers. Unions call the
intermittent stoppages in different regions with almost no warning.
For weeks, working parents have had to be geniuses at organizing
stopgap daycare of their own when kindergartens close suddenly.
They are also furious at having to spend their own money, for
example to pay hourly rates to babysitters.
Public anger has brought pressure on the unions to halt the
strikes and accept what they can get. In one state, Bremen, the union
succumbed Tuesday, declaring a moratorium on strikes till August 5.


Clic here to read the story from its source.