KLATSCHEN REICHT NICHT!

– by Luna-Al Mousli

Photo: ©Niko Havranek

Sesilia, 28
Kindergarten teacher

Sesilia arrives directly from her work, a kindergarten in the 11th district. We meet at the Landstraße subway station. Her eyes look tired, her work has left its mark, but she smiles bravely. We walk towards Stadtpark; there is a crowd accumulating there, the masses of people are intimidating.

"I need to complain a little bit before we get started," Sesilia says to me. "This week has been so tedious. A colleague is pregnant and is going to leave soon. She's a full-time employee, but I'm sure her position won't be filled. Of course, I'm happy for her, but we have a massive staff shortage, and that's a huge problem." 

The kindergarten where Sesilia works has 105 children divided into five groups. Normally, one full-time, one part-time educator and one assistant is assigned to an individual group. However, Sesilia has been working with only one assistant in her group of 21 children for the past months. In mid-2020, one part-time and one full-time pedagogue resigned; the positions were only partially filled because there were no applications.

We sat down on a bench overlooking the Stadtpark pond. The words just burst out of her. "When the first lockdown came, the kindergarten was in emergency mode; only the children of parents in systemically important jobs were allowed to come. There was a lot of uncertainty about how we should interact with the children: Do we have to keep our distance from the children? How should we do that, and how should we make the children understand that they also have to keep their distance from each other? On average, there are seven children per group who are under three years old and they put everything in their mouths–toys, other children's hands, and whatever else."

For a long time, there were no precise guidelines; the worker’s council and the administrative office did have talks, but the resolutions they passed were useless. They didn't fit in with the kindergarten's daily routine or came too late, only after the government announced new measures. For example, one provision was that educators should mix children from different groups as little as possible. Since there was too little staff, the teachers had to shuttle back and forth between the groups to cover the service. Sometimes,  teachers (pedagogues from other houses) helped out, who - untested until February 2021 - were in contact with the children for several days. 

At the end of autumn 2020, parents were no longer allowed to enter the kindergarten. When the children were picked up, the educators had to dress each child themselves, possibly also quickly change diapers, and then take the children out to the parents. At peak times, the rest of the group was often left unattended. "It was a full-body workout; I was running back and forth, trying not to lose sight of my group. And from September 2020, we're supposed to wash all the kids' hands and disinfect the surfaces every hour. By the time I get finished with all 21 children, I can start all over again. There's really no time for anything else!" In the beginning, most of the children were sent home, and most of the staff were sent into  home office; one educator and one assistant always took care of the children. The others were on call in case many children came. Those in the home office took care of the office tasks: working on projects, writing child observations, reading literature on pedagogical topics, preparing child development meetings. 

"We were also encouraged to use up all overtime hours and consume vacation days during that time." After a few weeks, the parents began to exert pressure; after all, they had paid for the kindergarten place. Whether parents worked or not, soon, kindergarten was full again. 

"During the first lockdown, with fewer children attending, I noticed that I could work with them much better in terms of quality and responding to their needs. I wasn't exhausted after work and had energy for my own life," Sesilia says.

In September 2020, the kindergarten reopened as usual. This period is always the most stressful as it takes time for the children to settle into the new environment. Forty new children joined. Parents were allowed to be present, as long as they wore a mask.

 "At the very beginning of this phase, I had to be quarantined because I was a K1 contact person. We were all afraid that staff would be absent during this phase because we were already short of it before," Sesilia recounts. She had to stay at home for ten days, but after a few days, she felt guilty for the increasing pressure on her colleagues due to her absence and wanted to return to work as soon as possible. She called different agencies, but neither the magistrate nor the health counseling helpline could give her clear information on what to do. 

"It was important for me to make sure I didn't bring the disease to the kindergarten." Not everyone handled the situation so responsibly. For example, Sesilia recounts that a couple brought their child to kindergarten despite it showing symptoms of corona and before they got their test results. The results were positive. All children in the group as well as the staff had to be quarantined. "I was in contact with the child; it was crying a lot. I wiped his nose, and it wiped the tears on my T-shirt. I washed my hands a lot, but that doesn't do much good." 

Sesilia wanted to make sure she wasn't positive and got tested. She had to pay for the test herself in early autumn 2020 because educators were not being regularly tested at that time, and there was not yet a free test offer for the general public. "This is very disappointing because we have a very physical profession as kindergarten educators. In other professions of this kind, the staff is tested regularly. We weren't even provided testing when we suspected corona." However, that has changed in the meantime. Since February 2021, kindergarten staff are also being tested once a week. In kindergarten, educators do not have to wear masks because that could impair the linguistic and emotional development of the children. "Particularly in infancy, a lot happens through facial expressions, creating a bond between the teacher and the child," Sesilia explains. 

In Sesilia’s shared flat, the roommates strictly follow the rules by staying at home, and not meeting people from other households, but she has to go to work every day without really being able to protect herself. "We need someone to stand up for us, to act in the interest of the children, families, and educators. It's getting harder and harder every year to fill vacancies in the kindergarten field. That is a sign. Kindergarten educator is a profession that is incredibly exhausting e; it is an important profession that must finally be given the respect that it deserves. Neither the parents nor the government see and acknowledge how much physical and psychological work kindergarten teachers do. No one in the government wants to feel responsible for kindergartens, neither the Ministry of Education, Science and Research nor the Ministry of Labor, Family and Youth," sighs Sesilia.

We get up, walk around the pond and say goodbye at the flower store at the exit . Sesilia decides to buy a flower for each of her colleagues. "We're having a hard time right now, so I'm sure everyone would appreciate a little motivation!" She hands me red, yellow, and white flowers while gently murmuring the names of her colleagues to herself.