Cologne fights against language deficits: Focus on daycare!

Cologne fights against language deficits: Focus on daycare!

in Cologne has been a worrying trend for some time: the number of first graders who repeat the school year reaches record heights. The main cause of this is often an inadequate language skills, especially among children with a migration background. While some Cologne mayor candidates stand up for a daycare obligation in the last year before schooling, the problem ensures heated discussions in the city.

Berivan Aymaz from the Greens and Torsten Burmester from the SPD demand that children with linguistic needs have to receive a place in the daycare center. Burmester sees the daycare visit as crucial for just starting opportunities. He emphasizes that the community has a responsibility to meet especially those parents who cannot find a daycare place. "Something basically goes wrong here," says the CDU politician Greitemann and addresses the unjust distribution of daycare centers in districts such as Chorweiler and Mülheim. In Chorweiler, only 80 percent of three to six-year-olds have access to the daycare center, which means over 10 percent of the first grader year that did not visit a daycare center.

language promotion as a key

A central element in the discussion is language support. According to pro-kita.com It is crucial to offer children with non-German origin language in daycare. Multilingual children can enrich the daycare group and promote intercultural competence. But that requires patience and alternative communication methods from the educators. They are often faced with the challenge that children do not understand instructions, which makes the funding even more difficult.

In order to counteract the linguistic barrier, patience, facial expressions and gestures as well as playful access can be helpful. Practical exercises such as memory games or a multilingual good morning ritual help to expand the language skills of the children.

A look at multilingualism

The importance of multilingualism is emphasized by numerous experts. As herder.de , multilingualism does not show any development risks. Children who learn several languages ​​often have better cognitive skills. In addition, multilingual education enables more flexible use of language, which has a positive effect on social interaction.

The NRW school minister has already started the exams for mandatory language support. However, implementation remains a challenge, especially in disadvantaged districts, where the real daycare plaque rate often remains behind the expectations.

Together with offensive suggestions for the reorganization of the daycare places and an expansion of language support, it is time to pull everyone involved. This is the only way to get Cologne children a fair chance of a successful school career.