After the criticism: Hedemora municipality extends childcare hours

– We have listened to the needs of the parents and believe that the extended opening hours will help many of our parents to put together the puzzle of life, says Agneta Andreasson-Bäck, chairman of the board of education

Today, Hedemora’s childcare opens its doors only at 06:30 in the morning. Something that caused several guardians to react. The parent, Caroline Pira, barely makes it in time to work at Avesta, where she starts work at seven in the morning.

– I have to leave my child in a hurry and still might not make it to work in time, she previously told SVT Dalarna.

Conducted a survey among guardians

To find out what the need looked like, Hedemora municipality sent out a questionnaire about the care hours, which 255 guardians answered. A majority wanted care hours changed from 06:30-18:30 to 06:00-18:00, but 40 percent of those who responded wanted 06:00-18:30.

Now the board of education in Hedemora has decided that the opening hours will be 06:00 – 18:30.

– Many need to leave early, but some need to pick up late. If we extend it by 30 minutes, we will meet that need, says Agneta Andreasson-Bäck (S), chairman of the board of education.

The committee voted through the most costly alternative that was investigated. The change is estimated to cost around SEK 600,000 including increased personnel costs, money taken from a priority pool, and is supposed to be implemented from the turn of the year.

Hear Hedemora’s head of education about how quickly you can change in the video below.

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