Now the municipality promises again action in the daycare field.
In a press release, the municipality writes that it is working with both acute solutions and long-term efforts.
Now the municipality promises again action in the daycare field.
In a press release, the municipality writes that it is working with both acute solutions and long-term efforts.
Sermitsiaq has tried to get the mayor of Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Avaaraq Olsen, to explain what acute and long-term solutions are being worked on, and what is concretely different about the municipality’s new promises after almost 20 years of similar challenges in the field of day care.
However, the mayor does not want to appear for an interview and has instead sent written answers.
What urgent solutions are working to solve the problem?
– Among other things, we run radio spots and information to attract pensioners, students and trained professionals to the daycare centers. At the same time, the administration and the head of department work closely with the institutions on coordination of staffing and opportunities to help each other crosswise, where possible, writes the mayor of Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Avaaraq Olsen.
Several of the measures the mayor now describes as emergency solutions have already been launched earlier. Already back in 2024, the municipality was looking for pensioners to take on the task of missing hands in day care institutions.
Collaboration with Majoriaq
Asked what long-term solutions the municipality is working on, Avaaraq Olsen mentions the municipality’s new efforts in collaboration with Majoriaq and SPS.
– Among other things, the municipality initiated a collaboration with Majoriaq on a course for up to 50 unemployed people, as well as working with recruitment and upskilling through SPS.
In addition, Avaaraq Olsen mentions in his written response that the municipality “focuses on the working environment and retention of employees.”
What specific measures the municipality has taken to improve the working environment and retain employees are not mentioned in the written response from Avaaraq Olsen, but in the press release from the municipality they write that there is a focus on strengthening the management in the institutions and on skill development among the employees.
So what’s new?
The problems with the shortage of staff in the day care field are certainly not new, and just writing that sentence is like deja vu. So how do the new promises differ from the many previous plans and announcements over the past 20 years?
– This is more than ordinary promises. Today we have a relatively new sector plan, which we follow actively, and which is based on the fact that the challenges in the field of day care require a long-term effort, writes Avaaraq Olsen.
The municipality further writes in the press release that they have received inquiries and concerns from parents regarding the conditions in individual institutions. These inquiries are taken seriously and are included in the further work in the area, it says.
