Overview

• €93.3 million in federal Kita-Qualitätsgesetz funds has been allocated to finance 187 additional educator positions in Sachsen-Anhalt for 2026.
• Social Minister Petra Grimm-Benne says the new roles will be targeted to areas facing the most severe staff shortages, rejecting a uniform increase in staff-to-child ratios.
• Demographic pressures have driven births down to 12,526 in 2024—about 500 fewer children in Kitas than the previous year—leading providers to reassign staff and discuss hour cuts or closures.
• Opposition figures such as Nicole Anger argue that the positions amount to temporary relief rather than permanent hires and press for lasting staffing reforms.
• The state government aims to keep well-trained local educators from moving to other German states as retirements loom and hours are cut.