Around 13 percent of Danish daycare centers for young children offer a good quality of service, 49 percent are adequate, and 38 percent are insufficient, shows a new professional assessment of the country’s ‘nurseries’.
The study, which assesses the quality of municipal day care for infants aged 0-2 years, was carried out for the Ministry of Children and Education by Denmark’s Evaluation Institute (EVA) and the National Research and Analysis Center for Welfare (VIVE).
It is the first such assessment of the quality of the country’s nursery daycare centers.
More help is needed for struggling toddlers
According to the department manager for day care in EVA, Dina Madsen, there is much to praise in nurseries, but she would like to see more funds to help children who are having a hard time.
“Institutions of insufficient quality have staff who are friendly and welcoming, but we would like to see staff who also help children who are angry or upset by putting words to the child’s feelings and helping the child move on,” she said .
“There are not enough play areas or enough toys for the children. The children do not get enough time to immerse themselves in the games.”
Worrying, but not serious
“There is no way around it. The results indicate that the quality is too low. I think it’s worrying and I think you have to do something about it,” Andreas Rasch-Christensen, head of research at VIA University College, told DR.
However, Rasch-Christensen assures parents that they do not need to worry seriously – for example about their welfare – when they send their little ones to an institution.
“When a quality is judged to be only sufficient, it means that what is going on is qualified, but that, for example, work is lacking in building good relationships between the children,” he said.
minister to act
Minister for Children and Education Mattias Tesfaye will send a letter to all municipalities in which he emphasizes that they are responsible for the quality of day care.
“The results of the investigation worry me. I am in dialogue with the parties in the area about what is needed to strengthen the quality. More staff will not be enough to ensure an improvement,” said the minister.
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Source: The Nordic Page