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Free all-day care: Ingersheim is planning decisive steps
Ingersheim is planning free all-day care from 2026 to relieve the burden on parents and expand school child care.
Free all-day care: Ingersheim is planning decisive steps
The municipality of Ingersheim has taken steps to sustainably expand all-day care for primary school children. From August 1, 2026, a legal right to all-day care for children of primary school age will come into force, initially for the first grade and comprehensively expanded to grades one to four by August 2029. bmfsfj.de reports that around 1.8 million children of primary school age are currently cared for full-time, which corresponds to 56% of the corresponding age group.
However, Ingersheim is faced with the challenge that financing of all-day care will have to be offered free of charge in the future. This means that there is no income from parental contributions and the running costs are borne entirely by the municipality. According to bietigheimerzeitung.de, the shortage in the area of school child care in 2024 amounted to around 360,000 euros. According to the municipality's plans, school child care should be retained, and a moderate increase in fees is recommended in order to improve the cost coverage ratio of 28.5 percent.
Space for an additional care group
In order to meet the increasing demands, an additional care group is planned. A suitable room in the Schiller School has already been identified, which will be equipped with new furniture in the future. Applying for funding from the state to expand a cafeteria in the SKV hall is also intended to improve the care situation.
The mayor of Ingersheim, Lehnert, emphasized that the coming years will be particularly interesting after 2027, as a class will then be continuously added to all-day care. Nevertheless, there are political concerns. Karl Seitz from the FW said that the municipality was not financially able to meet the new requirements and expected a mathematical shortfall of around 400,000 euros. Martina Spahlinger from MiT also criticized the inadequate subsidies and the worrying personnel situation.
An outlook on the funding opportunities
The federal government is supporting the expansion of all-day care with a total volume of 3.5 billion euros in order to promote investments in equipment as well as renovations and new buildings. From 2026 he will contribute to operating costs, which are expected to rise to up to 1.3 billion euros annually by 2030. This could help the community of Ingersheim to overcome the challenges of full-day care and improve the compatibility of family and work.
In summary, it can be said that the expansion of all-day care in Ingersheim remains very popular, although financial hurdles must be overcome. With clear planning and possible support from the federal and state governments, the proven model of school child care could be even better adapted to the needs of families in the future.