“We fell from a height”: why Montpellier restricts the reception of toddlers in municipal crèches for two months
Au multi-accueil Pinocchio-L’Ile aux Trésors, aux Beaux-Arts. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN
En raison de "difficultés à recruter du personnel diplômé", l’accueil des 0-3 ans sera limité dans dix des trente structures municipales. Des parents font part de leur incompréhension.
"I have had children in the same municipal nursery in Montpellier for several years and there has never been any particular difficulty , testifies Sophie*. But since October, it’s been a disaster. Suddenly it's closed, suddenly it's the hours that are restricted."
According to her, a milestone was reached last week. "We received an email informing us that the daycare would be closed on Friday. And it was while picking up our children that we discovered the city’s message. We fell from a height."
Closing one section after another
It was in fact announced the closure of one section (baby, medium, large) per week, for nine weeks, from February 26 to April 26. Which means, for example, that over the next two months, parents will have to manage for three weeks to have their toddler looked after.
According to the City, these "new opening arrangements" are justified by "difficulties encountered in recruiting qualified agents" and "the impact on the supervision rate" ;quot;. Parents were told that "these adjustments will require a certain adaptability".
Three types of measurements
The City has decided on three types of measure. For three crèches (Antigone, Pinocchio and Snow White), the sections will close in turn for one week each.
In four crèches (Louise-Guiraud, Galineta, Robin des Bois and Thérèse Sentis), daily opening hours have been reduced from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. h 30 so that the agents can benefit from a lunch break.
Finally, in four multi-reception centers (Les Chats Bottés, Villeneuve d‘Angoulême, Les Copains d’abord, Europa Assas), three places were frozen in each structure in order to maintain the same supervision rate.
"Dramatic in substance and form"
"This will highlight inequalities, deplores a mother. There are parents who will be able to afford a nanny, and single-parent families without resources who cannot afford to do otherwise. How will mothers who live alone be able to work if they have to look after their little one ?"
"It’s dramatic in substance and form, protests a mother. We are told that it will be like this until April, but nothing indicates that this system of rotating closures will stop then."< /em>
In Montpellier, 53% of families without a solution
In Montpellier, more than half of families do not benefit from any childcare. Tasnime Akbaraly, early childhood assistant, recalled last March that "according to the indicators of the family allowance fund, we are at 47% in Montpellier (for the reception rate) while the national average is 57%. This percentage concerns all types of reception."
In detail, the 17 municipal nurseries offered a total of 903 places. The 25 associative reception centers had 624 places. "objective and financing agreements" must be signed this year. Objective: "the creation of a one-stop shop for early childhood" aimed at better responding to specific reception requests.
"Today, our 30 nurseries and daycare centers offer 1,340 cradles for 0-3 year olds", underlines the elected official. The ambition to offer 300 additional places by 2026 was already reflected last September by the opening of the Liselotte crèche, in Port-Marianne, which offers 72 places.< /p>
The deputy had also expressed her desire to review the algorithms for allocating places in daycare with clear points upon registration. This, for example, to favor women who wish to reintegrate quickly."
Legal action considered by parents
In its message, the City expressed its "desire to return to normal operation, at the latest, by the end of April 2024& ;quot;.
Parents are so upset that they are considering double legal action: "First an interim order (urgently) to force the City to recruit", and then "an action for compensation (in the longer term), in order to establish that the continuity of the public service is not ensured".
Tasnime Akbaraly (deputy mayor): “We never left a mother behind”
Why such a situation ?
I took up my role at the time of Covid, and this period has profoundly affected organizations. Meetings and team dynamics are gone. It took a long time to relaunch the educational projects.
This is what explains your recruitment problems ?
From 2021 to 2023, no one submitted a CV to work in daycare centers. At the same time, childcare assistants moved to category B at the hospital. We have been working on the attractiveness of the profession for two years.
Many cities have closed cribs…
On the contrary, we have chosen to maintain a high level of service. We will create 300 places by 2028, whereas there were only 30 additional places between 2014 and 2020, with one daycare even having closed.
How to complete this objective with the difficulty in recruiting ?
By working on attractiveness, we managed to recruit all the staff we needed, in September 2023. We were even 10% more than what the regulations require.
How to explain the difficulties encountered today ?
For several months, we have not been able to replace incumbents who leave due to illness, union discharge or otherwise. We have a pool of replacements but 50% of them are absent in turn. In fact, we are missing 25% of replacements.
What feedback have you received from staff ?
He sounds the alarm. Agents cannot even do half a day of RTT and are tired. The teams are united and get the job done despite absences, but they must be preserved.
Hence the section closures or hourly reductions…
Yes, I explained this to the families. It’s not a question of budget, as some people thought. The agents welcomed these decisions which protect them. This is essential to maintain the quality and safety of reception.
What do parents think ?
This sometimes has a big impact on their lives and I understand the anger of some people. A single mother who works or is training and who has no family to help her, we will find solutions for her. We've never left a mom behind, and we're not going to start now. We are in the process of collecting specific needs.
Do you think you will be able to return to normal operation in April ?
We have a few difficult weeks ahead of us but the measures taken should help us get over this milestone. I even think it should start to get better by the beginning of March. It’s up to us to anticipate and find the levers to make the situation improve.
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