Mothers Margot and Carolien have no idea where they can house their children, now that shelter organization Number One is closing locations due to staff shortages. Schools are also at a crossroads, because they have a duty to provide after-school care in the building. But how? “This is not resolved in the short term.”
Parents with children at NumberOne Childcare were unpleasantly surprised on Tuesday evening. Due to a drastic shortage of personnel, Number One will close a number of locations and groups in De Kempen and Veldhoven as of 9 May. One of those locations is the after-school care at De Meerhoef primary school in Veldhoven.
Margot Vermeulen therefore has a problem. Two of her three children (5 and 7) attend this out-of-school care, no less than three days a week. They cannot go to any other number one location.
The family deliberately opted for childcare, so as not to be dependent on friends or parents. “We thought we had arranged it well. Recently, there have been signals, groups have been merged because of the staff shortage. But we didn’t see it coming.”
As an emergency measure, she has approached all reception locations in the region, but a quick solution is not in sight. “Waiting lists are long everywhere. And the problem is occurring at more locations of Number One, so the pressure on existing childcare organizations in the region is only increasing.”
Where can she find shelter for her children for three days? Margot is blessed with a reasonably flexible job and an employer who wants to think along. “I can work from home and so can my husband. But that is far from ideal. I can send some emails with two small children at home. But an online meeting, that’s a different story.”
Carolien Michiels from Netersel works as a teacher at a primary school. Her children, aged 5 and 7, will no longer be able to go to the after-school care of the Lambertus school in Netersel. “It is the only shelter in the village, there is no alternative. We don’t have a solution yet.”
Flexible working is not an option for her. She is disappointed, but is not angry with the childcare organization. She sees that there is force majeure for Number One.
Director Rudolf Buur of the Lambertus School says he is surprised by the closure and is not happy about it. “We were shocked.” Schools must according to the law Provide childcare within the school, if parents request it. “We are going to do everything we can to arrange something, but we will first make sure that this is not resolved in the short term.”
Arnoud van Leuven, director of Stichting Veldvest, which includes primary school De Meerhoef, indicates that it is very difficult to find a solution. He sees a social problem.
“The staff shortage is a national problem, which also applies to education. We have to pull out all the stops to staff the classes. Our employees have done a lot of extra work in recent years with corona to keep the school running. They deserve a compliment for this. We cannot ask our staff to fill this gap now.”
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