Järva Parish’s planned single kindergarten teacher system in childcare facilities threatens the quality of children’s development, the wellbeing of teachers, and the sustainability of early childhood education as a whole.
The single kindergarten teacher system means that in each kindergarten group, one teacher would be responsible for all educational and caregiving activities (instead of the current two teachers), supported by assistants. Although this may initially seem efficient, scientific material and the experiences of kindergarten teachers clearly show that this model leads to several serious problems that negatively affect both children’s development and teachers’ wellbeing.
1. Development and safety of children must not be compromised! Kindergarten is one of the most important environments for a childs' development. In a single teacher system, all pedagogical responsibility rests on one person, which means less individual attention for children, poorer recognition of developmental needs, and less ability to respond to childrens emotional and educational needs. Assistants do not replace qualified teachers. Assistants carry out educational and caregiving activities under the direction of the kindergarten teacher, as they lack the competence and skills to independently plan activities that support children’s development.
2. Workload for teachers becomes unsustainable!
A single kindergarten teacher would have to: – plan all educational and caregiving activities, – be responsible for group development, documentation, and assessment, – handle complex behavior and special needs situations, – do all of this without an equal professional partner.
Such a work arrangement increases stress, burnout, and sick leave, causing qualified teachers to leave the profession. This exacerbates the already severe shortage of qualified kindergarten teachers in Järva Parish and makes the profession even less attractive.
3. Loss of teamwork reduces quality!
A single teacher model eliminates professional collaboration, leaving the teacher alone with both decisions and responsibility — creating stress and pressure.
In contrast, a two-teacher system allows: – discussion and analysis of childrens' development, – ensuring personalized approaches based on each child’s needs, – sharing responsibility and workload, – supporting each other in difficult situations, – ensuring a continuous and high-quality educational process.
4. An assistant is not a teacher!
Assistants are necessary and valuable, but they are not trained to carry pedagogical responsibility. If the system assumes that assistants “cover” for the absence of a second teacher, the quality of education inevitably declines. This creates unclear job roles, unequal responsibilities, and tensions within the team.
5. Kindergarten must not become a cost-cutting target!
Educational decisions must be based on what is best for the child, not the budget. Kindergarten is not a place to experiment with a system that: – reduces quality, – overloads teachers, – and puts children’s development and safety at risk.
The planned single kindergarten teacher system makes the profession even less attractive and worsens the shortage of qualified teachers in the future.
Those who have signed demand that: ✔ Järva Parish abandons the implementation of the single kindergarten teacher system ✔ Two qualified kindergarten teachers per group are retained ✔ Decisions are made based on scientific evidence and childrens' wellbeing ✔ Kindergarten teachers are guaranteed humane and sustainable working conditions