Government takes stock

Positive and negative aspects of the Childcare Act

In September 2023, the new Carinthian Child Education and Care Act came into force, promising "free kindergartens".

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Monkey Business )

The Carinthian state government presented the results of a very "infrastructure-heavy" government meeting on Tuesday: the focus was on building investments, the Plöcken Pass and the Carinthian Child Education and Care Act (KBBG).

Governor Peter Kaiser started the press conference with "pleasing" figures from the government meeting. The construction investment program of the state of Carinthia, which has been in place since 2018, lists all contracts of the state, the state companies and the federal government and examines them annually in order to make a comparison: "The public sector and public companies will invest over 1.3 billion euros in building construction, civil engineering and infrastructure this year. The investment volume will increase by 217 million euros compared to 2024," reports Kaiser. Money that the construction industry urgently needs - after all, many companies are complaining about empty order books due to high construction costs and the effects of inflation.

"We know how employment-intensive the construction industry is and with this investment sum, the orders from the public sector and public companies - in road construction, at ÖBB, at BIG or Kelag - are a factor that contributes to stabilization," explains Martin Gruber (ÖVP), the state's deputy leader. This total investment volume of 1.3 billion euros is provided by the state of Carinthia with over 420 million euros and by public companies such as Asfinag, ÖBB, BIG and Kelag with over 878 million euros.

Team Kärnten sees the construction investment program as fundamentally positive, but is also calling for a target/actual comparison: "As the name suggests, the K-BIP is a program and therefore a forecast. Therefore, a target/actual comparison would definitely be interesting because it would illustrate which changes have been made and which planned projects have not been realized," says TK CEO Gerhard Köfer.

Three options for the Plöcken Pass
The provincial government also turned its attention to another important infrastructure project: the Plöcken Pass. As reported, the Plöcken Pass has been partially open to traffic again since the end of January following a massive rockfall on the Italian side. On behalf of Gruber and the Italian provincial councillor Cristina Amirante, three possible options for a safe traffic connection were examined in detail: a base tunnel, a crest tunnel and an alternative road route. "This key decision for the entire region should be made this year - we have agreed this with Friuli," says LHStv. The models differ in terms of cost and duration (see info box).

The three variants:

• Alternative route: 240 million euros in costs, construction time of seven years
• A crest tunnel: around 530 million euros in costs, 10 to 11 years planning and construction time
• Construction of a base tunnel: over one billion, planning and construction work takes at least twelve years.

Initial assessment of the Child Education and Care Act
The Carinthian Child Education and Care Act (KBBG), which came into force in September 2023 and was celebrated as a "milestone" by the SPÖ in particular, was also a topic at the government meeting. This is because it was evaluated for the first time. There had been criticism, particularly from parents, because the "free kindergarten" was suddenly more expensive than before due to contributions for handicrafts and meals.

"Perhaps it would have been better in terms of party politics to transfer 1,500 euros directly to the parents once every six months and not to the childcare facilities," says education officer Daniel Fellner, taking stock, but defending the measure: "However, we think it is the right thing to do and the social impact will become apparent in the coming years." The state is spending an enormous amount of money on this: while it was 84 million in 2022, next year 161 million - almost twice as much - will flow into the care and education of Carinthian children.

"We have implemented the free kindergarten, made significant salary adjustments and doubled pre- and post-school hours. And these are just some of the achievements of the KBBG. However, we were aware that such a milestone would also require some tightening up," says Fellner, who was given some recommendations for improvement during the evaluation by the University of Klagenfurt together with the öibf (Austrian Institute for Vocational Training Research):

• Negatively highlighted: the enormous additional need for specialist staff and available space, followed by the budgetary situation of the municipalities (especially influx municipalities), as well as the high personnel costs (especially due to the gradual reduction in group size). The evaluation also called for a legal regulation to promote inter-municipal cooperation. The practical part of the training courses was said to be too small and the preparation and follow-up times were still inadequate despite the increase. There was also criticism of the title "fee-free kindergarten", which caused misunderstandings among parents.
• Positively emphasized: Pay equity for educators, increase in preparation and follow-up time, increase in state funding (over half of the municipalities are planning expansions or new construction projects in the area of elementary education) and the legal anchoring of parental involvement and supervision

Alongside the results, Provincial Councillor Fellner also presented some figures relating to the new law: 96.3 percent of childcare providers have already switched to this new funding system. The care rate for five-year-olds is 98.8 percent and 36.7 percent for under-threes. That is 10 percent more than in 2018.

Fellner: "Were overwhelmed by success"
In response to the criticism raised, the education officer said: "We were overwhelmed by the success of the KBBG and cannot keep up with the pace", referring to the further planned reduction in group sizes over the next two years. Fellner emphasizes that he is taking the concerns expressed by the community, supporting institutions and employees "very seriously". "The optimization processes are ongoing and are constantly being adapted. For example, an intensive training offensive is underway. In the coming years, we expect 120 graduates in elementary education per year, plus 360 early childhood educators per year."