The reform of reception environments (Milac) risks being the last straw. The implementation of this decree in force in 2019 is strongly criticized, particularly in the private sector, and risks generating new closures. It imposes more and more constraints on private daycare centers by forcing all new structures to move from the status of a natural person to that of a non-profit organization, which generates costs and, above all, additional scheduling problems.
Shortage of places in daycare centers in the province of Namur: which municipalities are least well served?
Professionalization of the sector
“Among the grievances, the reform includes the increased professionalization of staff, by requiring a childcare diploma and, sometimes, a CESS (Higher Secondary Education Certificate). The problem is that many nurseries employ trainees who do not have have yet completed their course and who will therefore no longer be able to work in reception environments”explains Sabine Lejeune, director of eight crèches in the province of Liège.
In the nurseries of Huy “we refuse on average 1 in 3 applications due to lack of space”
Added to this is the fact that the subsidies for the construction of crèches, namely 41,000 euros per place, do not take into account the increase in prices relating to the cost of materials induced by the energy crisis. “We have a concrete case of building a nursery for which we are hesitant to maintain the project because the initially planned budget has exploded”she adds.
Contacted, the new Minister of Early Childhood Valérie Lescrenier is well aware of the difficulties posed by the reform and plans to study the grievances raised. “We are currently studying how to resolve the blocking factors in order to achieve our objective of new places in nurseries (namely 5000 places under this legislature, Editor’s note).”
“5,000 new places in nurseries under this legislature”: here is the promise from Valérie Lescrenier, the Walloon Minister of Early Childhood
