State childcare centres could experience overwhelming staff shortages next month due to poor working conditions, the teachers’ union is warning.

MUT president Kevin Bonello told Times of Malta that as many as three quarters of childminders employed in government centres were seeking alternative employment, with many expected to leave next month.

“The conditions are miserable and this is forcing employees to seek other jobs.

The conditions are miserable and this is forcing employees to seek other jobs

“For instance, I just received a call informing me that seven out of eight childminders employed at one particular centre will probably not be there in a few weeks’ time. What will happen then?”

State childcare centres are facing a staff crisis. Photo: Jason Borg

About 50 childminders are employed at the eight government centres spread across the island, caring for hundreds of toddlers below the age of three.

Mr Bonello said he had received several complaints related to the employees’ wages, with claims of being paid less than part-time Skolasajf workers despite working on a full-time basis.

Others, he said, had complained of erratic shifts, with irregular starting times that had not been the case until a few months ago.

“Many of these employees are working or single parents.

“When they first started working in the centres, the hours were regular, now they are all over the place. This has made life impossible for them,” Mr Bonello said.

Many of the employees, he added, were trained kindergarten assistants and had already applied for openings ahead of the February kindergarten pupil intake.

Others had also applied for positions as learning support assistants (LSAs) in search of better conditions. Mr Bonello said the government often employed unqualified applicants so long as they signed up for training.

“There is always a demand for LSAs so if their applications are accepted, they will leave, plain and simple,” he said.

Although the union has received several complaints, talks to improve the situation are at a standstill.

Mr Bonello said the MUT’s application to represent the employees was stuck in a bureaucratic process, which had to be finalised before talks to resolve the situation could begin.

If the applications are accepted they will leave, plain and simple

Questions sent to the Foundation for Education Services, responsible for running childcare centres, were not answered by the time of writing.

Last year the government launched a free childcare programme, tying in some 50 private centres across the island.

The drive has increased demand significantly.

The MUT’s warning about childcare centres is reminiscent of the concerns they had raised last June ahead of the opening of Skolasajf, the government’s summer school programme.

The union had informed the ministry about a shortage of staff and was proved right when the opening had to be postponed by nearly a week as not enough teachers were available for the number of pupils attending.