Generation 2004 is keeping an eye on the ongoing issues at the interinstitutional after-school childcare for the children of staff. The After-school childcare Brussels (Accueil Pédagogique Post-Scholaire (APPS)) is marred by significant issues affecting a part of its staff, who are undervalued and underpaid despite their crucial roles.

Check the childcare policy for an idea of what’s involved. 

The issues:

Misaligned remuneration and job titles 
APPS childcare workers are officially classified and remunerated as “supervisors” of the children under Contract Agent Function Group II (FG II), despite performing many of the duties of Educators-Pedagogues. Their roles include skills such as active listening, conflict management, group dynamics creation, and holistic support for children’s physical, intellectual, and emotional development. The complexity and responsibility of their work go far beyond mere supervision, requiring significant reflection, organisation, and adaptation to individual and group needs.  

Here we have yet another group of colleagues whose responsibilities on paper can be very different from what happens in real life. The European Court of Auditors, 2019, Special report no 15/2019: Implementation of the 2014 staff reform package at the Commission – Big savings but not without consequences for staff lists indicative FGII tasks as ‘similar to those of AST/SC staff‘ (i.e. ‘Clerical and secretarial tasks, office management’), ‘but performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff’. As for pay scales: ‘Currently around 6 % of staff, all of them GFI and GFII contract staff, earn less than the lowest paid official …’. 

At the same time, APPS staff have to constantly adapt because sometimes there are children who do not speak French and they must find communication strategies to meet their needs and ensure a warm welcome. In addition to children’s free play times, APPS staff create various projects, whether one-off such as holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.) or longer term (artistic, theatrical projects, work on stories, on nature).  

Inadequate working hours and compensation 
Most contracts are part-time of 60-70%, with only few of 80%, making it challenging to achieve a full-time income. The erratic hours— working a few hours during afternoons on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and full afternoons on Wednesdays and Fridays, and extended hours during school holidays — make it nearly impossible to find additional part-time work to enable staff to earn enough to get to the end of the month. Meetings held twice a month further complicate scheduling.  

Communication and Resource Disadvantages 
APPS staff face communication challenges, due particularly to the lack of computers in European schools for administrative tasks and the growing list of administrative tasks to be completed on computer. This forces them to travel to Commission sites outside working hours, adding to their workload and stress. They also need to allocate a preparation time package 45 hours per year, PC consultation time of 48 hours per year, meetings package 40 hours per year. Furthermore, some colleagues have only 11 minutes per day to consult their emails and answer to them.  Not mentioning that they also need to be able to consult My Intracomm to be informed of what is happening within the Commission. Meanwhile most colleagues in the Commission received laptops long ago: desktop computers have all but disappeared and yet the childcare workers are having to fill in the gaps in provision using their private mobile phones. 

OECD, The teaching workforce in the Flemish community of Belgium figure 4.5 (p.146) shows teachers spending more hours on non-teaching activities than on teaching. Our APPS colleagues have a similar list of less-visible tasks for which the allocated time is nowhere near sufficient. How to fit in all the planning, preparation, general administrative work (including communication, paperwork, and other clerical duties), team work and dialogue with colleagues, participation in school management and communication and co-operation with parents or guardians? 

Deteriorating working conditions 
Over the years, APPS working conditions have worsened. APPS locations were outsourced without consulting staff. Equipment storage issues require daily transportation of materials, adding physical strain. Furthermore, leave requests are frequently denied under the guise of “service needs,” and surplus staff are placed on non-service without prior consultation, requiring them to make the hours up later. All these difficulties lead to an increased absence rate and a demotivation among colleagues, which fortunately are not yet reflected in the quality of childcare services according to the high level of satisfaction shown by parents in both the survey from 2021 (95% of parents intended to continue or start to use childcare services) and from 2022 (88% of parents were satisfied with the services of creche, kindergartens and after-school education). At the same time, several sites were outsourced (Geneva, Beaulieu, Wilson, etc.) without the consultation of colleagues who found themselves displaced to the schools. 

Increasing workload and responsibilities 
Despite the static “supervisory” pay, educators face growing responsibilities. These include managing equipment orders, writing newsletters for parents, displaying skills in evaluations, conducting significant projects with children, and even considering public exhibitions. Beyond the psycho-educational meetings and those that the APPS staff has with their team leader, they also have various training courses such as first aid, training on how to manage bullying at school, support for children with specific needs, learning sign language etc. Moreover, it’s worth mentioning the educational days which are organised each year and where the colleagues work on various themes such as emotions, group management, communication. 

Generation 2004 proposes that the administration takes into consideration the following solutions: 

1. Reclassification and fair remuneration: Reclassify APPS staff as Educators-Pedagogues by providing them with the opportunity of passing CAST for FG III and adjust their pay to reflect the new function group and their actual responsibilities.
2. Flexible and comprehensive working hours: Provide contracts that offer full-time hours (for those colleagues that want it) or allow for more flexible scheduling to enable staff to pursue supplementary part-time work if desired.
3. Improved resource allocation: Equip the colleagues from APPS with the necessary administrative tools, such as computers, to reduce the need for additional travel and outside work hours.
4. Consultation and inclusivity in decision making: Involve educators in decisions about site outsourcing and staff placement to ensure their safety and stability.
5. Consistent and fair leave policies: Establish clear and fair leave policies that do not disproportionately disadvantage staff under the pretext of service needs.
6. Recognition and support for increased responsibilities: Acknowledge the increased workload and responsibilities with appropriate compensation and support, reducing the burden on educators.
7. Internal mobility and career prospects: the Commission should be able to train these colleagues and thus be able to work with them to avoid long-term absences where possible.
   

Conclusion
The situation of APPS staff is marked by a significant disconnection between their job titles and their actual responsibilities. Despite being officially classified as “Supervisors” of children under Function Group II (FG II), they perform complex duties akin to Educators-Pedagogues, requiring advanced skills in child development, conflict management, and creative project planning. This misalignment leads to underpayment and undervaluation, compounded by inadequate working hours and erratic schedules that hinder their ability to earn a full-time income. The persistent undervaluation and part-time contracts undermine their financial stability and professional fulfilment. 

Additionally, APPS staff face significant communication and resource challenges. The lack of essential administrative tools such as computers forces them to travel to Commission sites outside working hours, exacerbating their workload and stress. This situation is worsened by insufficient consultation time for emails and Commission updates, which most colleagues resolve using laptops — an asset not provided to APPS staff. Furthermore, the deteriorating working conditions, characterised by outsourced sites, denied leave requests, and increased physical strain from transporting materials, contribute to high levels of absence and demotivation. Despite these challenges, the staff maintain a high level of service quality, as reflected in parent satisfaction surveys. 

Finally, little by little they are asked to do more and more. Whether it is managing equipment orders themselves, writing “Newsletters” to show parents what the children make, or being strongly encouraged to show their skills in evaluations, to create great projects with children… and all these at the same children’s-supervisor salary…. 

Implementing the measures that Generation2004 is proposing, would not only improve the working conditions of APPS staff but also ensure the continued delivery of high-quality childcare services of highly motivated colleagues. 

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