Of the 95,546 employees in kindergartens in the 4th quarter of 2020, the report is limited to the 88,943 who belong to the occupational groups of kindergarten teachers and other employees working with children.
Employees with kindergarten teacher training (28,120) and trade certificate in Child Care and Youth Work (17,493) make up the two largest groups with relevant education. However, it is employees without directly relevant education ("other education") who are the largest group with 41,014 people. Other competence groups are relatively small. There are close to 1,100 educated as child welfare officers and approx. 150-300 employees in each of the groups social educator, social worker, relevant vocational teacher training and special needs education.
Among the youngest, it is somewhat more common to lack relevant education. Women are in a clear majority. In none of the competence groups is the proportion of women lower than 87 percent. There is a far lower share of immigrants among employees with kindergarten teacher training than among employees without relevant education, more precisely 4.7 versus 24 percent.
The use of staff without relevant education is not primarily a feature of kindergartens of a certain size, although it is slightly more common in the smallest ones. For employees social educators, special needs educators and employees holding a trade certificate in Child Care and Youth Work, it is more common to work in public kindergartens. However, it is more common for social workers, primary school teacher graduates and employees with relevant vocational teacher training to work in private kindergartens. Private kindergartens employ persons without relevant education to a slightly greater extent than public kindergartens.
4.8 percent of employees with "other education" were enrolled in kindergarten teacher education in the autumn of 2020. Around 5 percent among child welfare officers and employees with relevant vocational teacher training were registered in further training in kindergarten pedagogy in the autumn of 2020.
In addition to formal education, the report looks at work experience. More than 60 percent of the employees in 2020 have also been registered as employees in a kindergarten in the 4th quarter of each of the four years 2016-2019. Such continuity is most common among kindergarten teacher graduates and those with a trade certificate in Child Care and Youth Work. Half of the employees with "other education" have been employees in kindergartens in all of the years 2016-2019. However, there are 20 percent, around 8,200 employees, who both lack relevant education and have not been employed in a nursery in the 4th quarter of any of the last four years preceding 2020.