A baby caretaker doesn’t have to write flawlessly

The baby boomer is almost 80 and now we have a problem. Because hardly anyone wants to work in a nursing home or in home care anymore. On the other side of the demographics, we see a similar structural shortage of human capital. Childcare has endless waiting lists (you have to register your child before conception) and groups are sent home due to a lack of supervisors.

The current staff shortages are also paralyzing a number of other, quite urgent sectors. The construction of all those houses we are waiting for. The installation sector, which has to mount the solar panels on our roofs. Employees everywhere are sick and exhausted, and those who have been closing the gaps for a number of years have had enough and are looking for an office job somewhere. Give them a go.

It is not possible to care for dependent elderly or children in the Netherlands without a diploma. I made some naive attempts to get some unemployed but capable women into jobs in home care or childcare, and I was amazed at how difficult we are making it for them. The main obstacle has three letters: BBL. In other words, ‘vocational learning path’. Four days of work, one day of school.

Sounds feasible, but in practice it is a pain. The dropout rate is high and anyone who sees the study guide will understand why. The thirty-year-old single mother, who has raised three children, receives an apprentice salary (read: often minimum wage) for two years and has to complete an endless series of tests and assignments for two years, of which (in my estimation) 80 percent is not strictly necessary to pass a good grade. to take care of the child.

She has to reflect on her profession for a long time, she has to display her vision of the children’s world. She has to build portfolios with dance projects, sports and games, and visual education. Then, as if her compulsory education had never ended, there are lessons in language, mathematics and citizenship education. Before she can start work, she has to write reports in the categories ‘economic’, ‘political-legal’ and ‘social’. This is also required if you want to become a facility employee, construction worker or installer.

And then it doesn’t stop. As if the childcare industry even has the luxury of making demands, the language requirement increased. Desperately, the directors of crèches and out-of-school care (BSO) ask whether exceptions to the language requirement are possible. Answer: no. Do substitutes also have to meet the language requirement? Answer: yes. What happens if a pedagogical employee does not pass the language test? Answer: then she is not allowed to work in childcare from 1 January 2025.

The employer can then request the subdistrict court judge to terminate the employment contract – and then send home the relevant group of toddlers that the caring, reliable but moderately language-skilled leader stood for because of a hopeless shortage of replacements with the correct papers.

The children are then taken care of by a parent, girl next door, grandfather or grandmother or someone else without any qualifications, except a lot of affection.

Also read: The staff shortages are back, so how do you bring in people?

The GGD will ensure that all baby caregivers put the d’tjes and t’s in the right place. Provided, of course, that the relevant GGD inspector can work at all, thanks to someone who takes care of the children or keeps an eye on the demented father. There is a good chance that the inspector will hire the employee who has just been fired to do that kind of work in the dark.

You know, those educational requirements must come from a good heart. They probably stem from the ‘lifelong learning’ policy, where everyone in The Hague’s diploma democracy agrees that more diplomas improve the quality and elevate the citizens. In short, more diplomas are always better.

But in practice there are so many who just want to get started. Who have no time, tranquility, self-confidence or patience to write endless reports. Who have grown just a little too frustrated with this pointless obstacle course and who have stepped out disillusioned halfway through BBL hell.

And we cannot afford that.

Rosanne Hertzberger is a microbiologist.