Word: children
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Thousands of German toddlers are being turned away from nursery school today as their teachers hold a national strike over working conditions. With coloring books uncolored and ABCs unlearned, the country that invented the word kindergarten (literally "children's garden") suddenly finds its preschool education system under scrutiny...
...teachers and day-care workers put down their crayons across Germany on Tuesday, including the states of North Rhine Westphalia and Bavaria, and eastern states such as Saxony and Thuringia. The teachers are demanding less stressful working conditions in the country's state-run kindergartens (which cater to children from the age of 2 or, in some states, age 1) and are calling for a new "health-protection contract." The industrial action is being organized by public-sector union Verdi and the GEW education union, which says that teachers are overburdened with red tape and suffer from health problems caused...
...Local councils, which are responsible for paying teachers, say their budgets are desperately overstretched and the unions' demands are unrealistic. Meanwhile, the association of German cities and councils has slammed the unions' muscle-flexing, saying the strike "would only harm parents and children." But most parents seem to back the strike action, even as they struggle to juggle work and child care. In Berlin's leafy Kollwitz Square, home to a small but crowded playground, many parents say they support the teachers' goals and are unfazed by the disruption. "The nursery teachers work long hours and they're often...
...When it comes to available and affordable day care, Germany lags far behind its European neighbors: only about 18% of German children under age 3 attend state-run nursery schools, compared with a European average of 35%. To try to catch up, the German government has pledged to triple the number of day-care spaces to 750,000 by 2013, and Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen, herself a mother of seven, wants to give one in three children under the age of 3 the chance to attend nursery school...
...meantime, some councils have set up "emergency kindergartens" staffed by non-union members for strike days. In other parts of the country, parents have teamed up to organize alternative day-care arrangements; others are taking a day's vacation to stay home with the kids. As for the children, they're probably just wondering what all the fuss is about...