Municipality focusing on expanding childcare facilities in Nordhorn
The city of Nordhorn is taking steps to address the growing demand for childcare services, as highlighted by the significant waiting list for the 2018/2019 kindergarten year. The city administration, in collaboration with the district administration, a recently formed parents' initiative, and facility operators, is working tirelessly to increase the number of childcare spaces.
At the heart of these efforts is the proposal for a daycare expansion program, set to be presented at the next Youth and Integration Social Committee meeting. The proposed locations for these expansions are the Höhenweg and Wiesenstraße kindergartens.
The city administration aims to significantly increase the number of childcare spaces in Nordhorn. To achieve this, they are considering a variety of options, both short-term and long-term. These options include renovations and expansions of existing facilities, as well as the construction of new daycare centers.
In the short term, a specialist committee will discuss potential solutions for increasing childcare spaces in Nordhorn. One immediate solution is the construction of a large kindergarten with 45 nursery and 50 kindergarten spots, which is set to begin in January 2019 in the Deegfeld area.
The city administration is also looking at mid-term solutions, such as the expansion of an existing facility to include a nursery group, which was approved a few months ago.
However, small-scale expansion solutions at existing facilities are ultimately not sufficient to meet the current demand. Therefore, the city administration is also considering building new daycare centers in the long term.
The decisions to expand child daycare were the result of intense discussions in the city's social, youth, and integration committee over the past year. Mayor Thomas Berling and his administration are focusing on identifying possibilities and checking them against legal requirements to create additional childcare spots in the short term.
The city of Nordhorn's council and administration have been working on expanding child daycare for some time now. The plans for increasing childcare spaces involve various options that will be presented to politics in the near future.
The increased demand for childcare spots was evident during the registration days at Nordhorn's kindergarten facilities, which revealed a shortage of approximately 300 nursery spots and over 100 regular spots for the current year.
The city administration is in constructive and goal-oriented discussions with all relevant parties to create more childcare spots, but faces challenges due to the shortage of skilled workers in the education sector. Despite these challenges, the administration remains committed to its goal of providing adequate childcare services for the growing number of families in Nordhorn.
