Huddinge Municipality has decided to close several preschools. Both children and staff will now need to be placed at other schools. Better staff and higher-quality premises are the municipality’s hope, but parents are doubtful.
In December the municipality decided to close four preschools: Hagen, Vihem, Talldalen and Örtagården. The reason behind the decision is that the birth rate is declining. By closing preschools with few children and low-quality premises, the municipality can instead focus on increasing the quality of educators and the working environment at the remaining schools.
”Closing the preschools will not lead to fewer square metres per child. Instead, we can afford better-quality premises and a higher staff density,” says Louise Rollins (MP), chair of the Preschool Committee in Huddinge.
Parents and staff were informed about the decision before it was clarified which schools would be closing. When the email came from the principal, families became stressed as they tried to find a new placement. Fia Hedman is a parent at Vihem preschool, which has been affected by the decision.
”This preschool has been incredibly important to us. My son did not want to start preschool at all, so they really had to fight and work hard with his introduction. Right now, I need to look for a completely new preschool or a childminder because my son does not fit in at the preschool we were offered,” she says.
In addition to a preschool placement, it is also important that the child feels safe and comfortable at their new school. A slow transition and introduction period will be needed for several of the children. For Fia, the decision came too close to the closure:
”We were only given one week to apply to a new school. Many of the preschools suggested by the municipality had open houses at the same time, so we could not visit all of them either. I think it is terribly handled because no one still knows what will happen this autumn.”
The local Christian Democrats are also criticising the decision. The party argues that this should instead be seen as a golden opportunity to focus on reducing the size of groups of children rather than closing preschools. They are also concerned about the risk of staff being given notice as a result of the closures.
”For us, the most important thing is that groups of children become smaller and that there is more efficient management of groups of children and preschool teachers,” says Jacob James Ellis, spokesperson for the Christian Democrats in Huddinge.
According to the latest statistics from Kolada (2023), municipal preschools in Huddinge have an average of 14.5 children per group. These groups are smaller than many others in the region, but still exceed the Swedish National Agency for Education’s recommendation of 6-12 children per group for ages 1-3. Louise Rollins, however, is not worried.
”There will not be larger groups of children; rather, the opposite will happen. Now we can direct the money towards staff and make sure there are fewer children per educator, which makes better quality possible.”
