Message from the Zug authorities regarding childcare

The following media release was issued by the Zug Depatment for Education and Culture on Saturday:

Zug, 14 March 2020

MEDIA RELEASE

Distance learning instead of school - Closing of the supplementary childcare service - Emergency childcare at the kindergarten and primary level

From Monday, March 16, there will be no face-to-face teaching at the schools in Zug for a period of three weeks. The education of the children will be carried out using distance education at home. The supplementary school childcare service will cease with immediate notice. In its place, emergency childcare will take place at kindergarten and primary level from Wednesday, March 18.  For parents, this means that they will be themselves responsible for looking after their children on the coming Monday and Tuesday. The daycare centres and play groups in the Canton of Zug will remain open as far as possible

Because the emergency childcare will not be able to offer places to all schoolchildren, many parents will also have to organise the childcare situation themselves beyond March 18th. Grandparents should not be employed for childcare. We would also appeal to employers during this situation, however. They are requested to set up in-company childcare facilities for a limited time, under simplified conditions. The daycare centres and play groups in the Canton of Zug will remain open as far as possible. The Conference of Municipal Social Leaders (SOVOKO: Konferenz der gemeindlichen Sozialvorsteher) and the relevant directorates of the canton (Directorate for Education and Culture, Directorate of the Interior) agreed on this today at a coordination meeting.

From Complementary School Childcare to Temporary Emergency Childcare
According to the decree of the Federal Council (Bundesrat), face-to-face teaching in schools is prohibited until April 4, 2020. For the municipal schools, this means that they will now completely stop the Supplementary Childcare Service (SEB) - including school lunches. Instead of the SEB and the block times, all the municipalities will organise all-day emergency care. This will not have the capacities necessary to provide places for all children, however. This would also not make sense, because it would undermine the Federal Council's measures for combatting the corona virus. Emergency care can and should therefore only be used to cushion emergency situations.

The municipalities will therefore have to set priorities accordingly when allocating these scarce places. According to the canton, children of certain occupational groups (e.g. employees of hospitals, the emergency services, nursing homes, the police and similar operations) must be given priority. The canton will work out the principles with regard to access and prioritisation of emergency childcare on behalf of the municipalities. The municipalities will need two working days for the organisation of this emergency childcare.

Emergency care will start in all municipalities on Wednesday, March 18. The exact opening hours, the registration procedure and the charges will be determined by the respective municipalities, and will be published on the Internet.

All parents and employers will have to find solutions for childcare for the coming Monday and Tuesday. The majority of the parents will have to organise childcare themselves after Wednesday.

Daycare centres (KITAS) - no closure
With regard to daycare centres, the government council has decided not to order any closures that go beyond the decree of the Federal Council. The SOVOKO believes that this will remain the case for the time being. The daycare centres and the play groups in the canton of Zug can therefore continue to operate. From Monday, the municipalities will offer a simplified notification procedure for companies that want to set up childcare facilities for their employees during this period. The form required for this will be made available to the municipalities by the canton.

Further information

Information about childcare is available from Government Councillor Andreas Hostettler
Tel: +41 41 728 31 70
Tel: +41 79 287 10 21
andreas.hostettler@zg.ch

Information about school lessons is available from Landammann Stephan Schleiss
Tel: + 41 41 728 31 80
stephan.schleiss@zg.ch