City of Chemnitz secures legal entitlement to childcare places for girls and boys under the age of three
The city of Chemnitz ensures the legal entitlement to a daycare centre place for children under the age of three, which comes into effect in August: the city currently has a supply rate of 57.3% of children of crèche age with an average take-up rate of 48.8%. This means that the supply covers demand.
A total of 3,073 places are available for children of crèche age (9 weeks to under three years), 325 of which are with childminders. The number of crèche places has increased significantly over the past five years: from 2,152 in 2008 to 3,073 in 2013. 921 places for children under the age of three have been created in Chemnitz since 2008. Since last year, there have been around 200 additional places.
In June, 13 children from the 9th week of life to under one year of age - which also covered demand - and 2,660 children from one year to under three years of age were cared for in daycare centres.
Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "Chemnitz wants to remain an attractive centre of life for many young families in the coming years. This also includes a good range of childcare facilities."
The city of Chemnitz has also been able to meet demand in recent years, although take-up has now risen significantly: by ten percentage points since the turn of the millennium to around 45 per cent today.
The City of Chemnitz's needs plan for child daycare centres, early education facilities, after-school care facilities for children from special schools and child daycare is also the basis for the city administration's action to develop space and care capacities for children up to the age of seven in Chemnitz. The requirements plan ensures a coverage rate of 57.3% for children under three and 94.6% for children over three.
However, parents who register for a childcare place for their child still have to bear in mind that a place is not always possible in their preferred centre or in the district in which they live. In around 80 per cent of cases, the city can meet the initial request.
In June, the statistics counted 5,897 children living in Chemnitz from the age of 9 weeks to under three years, 45.3 % of whom took up a place in a day nursery in June.
The number of children aged three to seven living in Chemnitz totalled 7,615 in June, 91.2% of whom took up a nursery place.
In future, parents will be able to reserve or apply for a childcare place for their child online. The city is currently preparing the necessary internet-based booking management system. When it is introduced, parents will be able to reserve places online. The service offers cross-organisational research and includes a clear presentation of all facilities and their educational concepts across the entire city area. The online allocation procedure for childcare places will be used in all facilities, regardless of whether they are run by the local authority or by independent providers. Following a pilot phase in September, the system is set to launch in November/December 2013.
Questions about childcare for young children in Chemnitz were also recently the subject of a parent survey "Municipal needs survey U 3". More than 43% of Chemnitz parents with children aged from birth to under three years took part in the project organised by the German Youth Institute/Technical University of Dortmund.The evaluation of the survey revealed a need for childcare of 48.5%, with 6.1% needing childcare for under-one-year-olds, 62.7% for one-year-olds and under-two-year-olds and 75.0% for two-year-olds to under-three-year-olds.
There are a total of 138 daycare centres in Chemnitz, half of which are run by the local authority. Around 780 nursery nurses work there, the latter now number 20. 68 day care centres are also available with 67 childminders and one childminder.
The updated requirements plan can be found in the council information system of the City of Chemnitz at www.chemnitz.de - here is the link: