Unqualified staff could be hired to make up for the shortage of nurses

Which parent has never pulled their hair out in search of a childcare solution? Nobody ! Finding a place in a daycare is often an obstacle course. And success is never guaranteed in the end.

A study conducted in the spring of 2022 and reported in an article published in Le Monde reveals a severe shortage of staff and the measures proposed to remedy this shortage are alerting children’s unions.

Childcare: a worrying staff shortage

Although the shortage of early childhood professionals has been known for several years, it has been difficult to really quantify the extent of the problem.

A study conducted between April and May 2022 by the CNAF (National Family Allowances Fund) on 15,986 nurseries reveals that about one in two nurseries is without qualified personnel. Child care assistants, early childhood educators and management positions are particularly difficult to recruit.

Early childhood professions are often very undervalued and poorly paid. The precarious working conditions easily explain the apparent reluctance of qualified personnel to work in facilities that welcome young people.

Consequences? Nurseries are threatened by the elimination of places, the reduction of working hours or even the closure to continue to ensure the safety of children. Many children, in fact, find themselves without a solution for childcare, threatening the return to work of their mothers.

Hiring unqualified personnel, a shaky emergency solution

To solve this problem, a surprising solution has just been implemented.

From August 31st, nursery schools can hire, under certain conditions, candidates without a suitable qualification.

The employer must demonstrate that they have failed to hire a childcare professional, and unskilled staff can only cover 15% of the total workforce. Public authorities promise that these new early childhood specialists will receive solid training, provided by their employer, and that there will be numerous checks.

This solution, however, is not at all welcome. According to the SNPE (Syndicat National à la Petite Enfance), this is just a shaky emergency solution that nevertheless risks becoming more democratic and becoming the norm.

This measure will not solve the underlying problem and will lead to new ones : Not only will these unskilled personnel not benefit from the working conditions necessary for their development, and will not remain in their workplace, but children are at risk of suffering.

Contrary to popular belief, kindergartens are not just kindergartens and childcare professions are complex professionswhich require many skills to be practiced correctly in respect of each age group.

A petition has also been put online to ask for this order to be withdrawn.

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