Hilbert Bredemeijer no longer feels like waiting for the cabinet. The Hague education alderman (CDA) believes that childcare should be free for all children. The cabinet recently postponed the plans for largely free childcare until 2027. As far as Bredemeijer is concerned, this is taking too long, so he is already starting with the most vulnerable toddlers in The Hague, who, for example, have a language deficit or stagnate in their language development – in total about the half of all children between 2.5 and 4 years old. From next year they will be able to attend pre-school education for free for sixteen hours a week.
In recent years, Bredemeijer has heard from teachers that children are more likely to start primary school when they are not yet ready. Because of a language delay, or because they have not learned to share, because they have never played with other children. Some children are not potty trained. The number of children aged 0 to 4 in The Hague with behavioral problems increased from 11 to 37 percent last year, according to research by a local youth aid organization. For example, they can’t express themselves well or get frustrated when they don’t get their way.
“That makes it more difficult for teachers to guarantee the quality of education,” says the alderman. “And the workload at schools is already so high.” Preschool education is a form of childcare that prepares toddlers for primary school with special play and reading programs. Children can usually go there a few days a week.
According to Bredemeijer, it is therefore a shame that the cabinet mainly refers to childcare as a ‘labour market instrument’ that enables parents to work more. That is also important, he says. But as a result, it is hardly about reception as an ‘equal opportunity instrument’, as Bredemeijer is now trying to use it.
Less ‘hassle’
All ten thousand toddlers in The Hague are already allowed eight hours a week to preschool. Those who have a so-called indication from the Center for Youth and Family can go there for sixteen hours. Such an indication is given if children’s language development stagnates, if the parents have a low level of education, or if no Dutch is spoken at home.
The preschools in The Hague are now only free for children of parents with the lowest incomes: a maximum of 30 percent above social assistance level. And the municipal subsidy is only an addition: those who are entitled to the national childcare allowance must apply for it themselves at the Tax and Customs Administration.
This has created an “enormous administrative burden,” says Bredemeijer. That is also the reason, he thinks, for the disappointing number of parents making use of the scheme. Only half of the 5,000 children with an indication attend preschool. That is why Bredemeijer wants to simplify it radically. “The red tape will disappear.”
From next year, the municipality will bear all costs for children with an indication for the sixteen hours at preschool. Parents who are entitled to a national allowance no longer need to apply for it. From September, toddler consultants will inform parents about their right to a pre-school and help them register.
And to make it even easier, all children in the districts of Laak and a large part of Zuidwest will receive an indication for sixteen hours of preschool from next month. So that pre-school becomes the norm there. Many families in those neighborhoods live in poverty, and relatively little Dutch is spoken, says Bredemeijer. “In Laak, low literacy is 50 percent.”
Reluctant and suspicious
Childcare organizations in The Hague see the need for this plan, says Zoë Kwint, director of the Hague childcare foundation 2Samen and vice-chairman of the local consultation body of pre-school providers. The complexity now often makes parents “reluctant or even suspicious,” she says. Kwint hopes that parents will soon be able to register their child at preschool more quickly if it is simple and free.
The biggest uncertainty in the plan of the municipality is the availability of personnel. There is a major shortage of pedagogical staff in childcare. That was also the reason Bredemeijers party colleague, Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs, CDA) mentioned, for postponing her national plans for another two years.
“We will have to deal with that,” says Bredemeijer. The shortages should not be a reason for delay, he says. “We cannot accept that children are increasingly falling behind in school.”
The shortages in The Hague are also a distribution issue, according to the alderman. “The people are there, but they are unfairly distributed across the city.” Many pre-schools already have room for extra toddlers, says Bredemeijer. Solutions are now being considered with reception locations, for example a better distribution of the available staff.
The municipality has earmarked money for the plan up to and including next year, but if it is a success, Bredemeijer would like to extend it. Above all, he hopes that this plan will inspire others to work on eliminating disadvantages among toddlers. “To invest in the basis with which children start school.”
If you look at childcare from that perspective, says Bredemeijer, the cabinet should also adjust its plans and give all parents the right to almost-free childcare from 2027. Van Gennip is now sticking to the requirement that both parents must work. The Social and Cultural Planning Office also criticized this earlier. Children from families where one or both parents do not work benefit from childcare, the planning office wrote at the end of last year, because the risk of arrears is greater for them.
This ‘labour requirement’ is especially crucial for the ruling party VVD. “In principle, I cannot bring myself to give non-working parents access to subsidized childcare,” said VVD MP Jacqueline van den Hil recently in a debate, “if our agents, teachers and nurses end up on a waiting list as a result.” Bredemeijer does not find that a convincing argument. “In principle, I cannot bear it if a child starts his school career with a backlog and can never catch up again.”
His plan is a success, says Bredemeijer, if it turns out that more vulnerable toddlers will start using preschool. But he is especially satisfied when he sees the effects of it. “When I hear from school leaders and teachers in a while that they see fewer and fewer children in group 1 with language and behavioral problems. I would love that if we achieve that.”