BERLIN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Germany's child care centers could employ an additional 106,500 skilled workers, according to a study published by the Bertelsmann Foundation on Thursday.
Although the number of qualified workers in Germany's child care institutions increased by 54 percent between 2008 and 2018, the working conditions for staff leave room for improvement, the study noted.
The German law "lacks uniform nationwide standards for staff so that child-friendly care and equal working conditions can be implemented everywhere," said Joerg Draeger, member of Bertelsmann Foundation's Executive Board.
In 2013, the year when legal entitlement to a place in a nursery was introduced in Germany, one child care worker was responsible for 9.6 children aged between 3 and 6 years. In 2018, this figure was 8.9 children.
The Bertelsmann Foundation recommended that a kindergarten teacher should only be responsible for 7.5 children on average.
Across Germany, the number of supervised children per educator, the care ratio, varied between 7 and more than 13, according to the study.
Depending on the federal state, the nursery staff "must therefore promote the education and development of children under very different working conditions," the study found.
The study said that the care ratio was "even worse" in reality because one-third of a teacher's working time was needed for discussions with parents, quality development or educational documentation, as well as for holidays and further training.
