Belgium Funds 80 Daycare Centers to Train Career Switchers On the Job

Starting next week, at least 80 daycare centers in Flanders and Brussels will launch new “learning-working trajectories” designed to train career switchers directly on the job, Flemish Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) announced on June 11. The initiative aims to tackle persistent staffing shortages in Belgium’s childcare sector by providing approximately €250,000 per year per participating location to cover wages and operational costs.

Background: A Sector Under Pressure

The childcare sector in Flanders and Brussels has faced chronic staffing shortages for years. The number of licensed childcare places declined slightly in 2025, largely due to childminders leaving the profession, while parents across the region continue to struggle to find affordable, accessible childcare. According to VRT NWS, the program is part of a broader multi-year investment plan running through the end of 2028.

Minister Gennez first unveiled her comprehensive Masterplan for Childcare in April 2025, backed by a €200 million budget increase by 2029. The plan rests on three pillars — what Gennez calls the “3 P’s”: price (prijs), places (plaatsen), and personnel (personeel). The Flemish government had already principally approved the legal framework for “practice centers” on November 7, 2025, allowing up to 100 organizations to participate. The current announcement operationalizes that framework with 80 confirmed centers.

How the Program Works

Each participating daycare center can hire up to four career switchers — people without current childcare qualifications or limited familiarity with the sector — and deploy a half-time learning coach to supervise them on the job. The career switchers receive €50,000 per person in wage subsidies from the Flemish government, fully covering their salaries.

Crucially, the career switchers are placed above the child-to-caregiver ratio, meaning they do not replace existing staff or add pressure on experienced caregivers. BRUZZ reports that the program targets people “with some distance from the labor market” — potentially including unemployed individuals, parents re-entering the workforce, or people seeking a career change.

Voices from the Sector

Lieve De Bosscher, Director of Childcare Services for the City of Gent, expressed strong support for the initiative in an interview on Radio 1’s “De Ochtend.” “We are missing a lot of childcare places in Flanders,” she said. “Above all, trained hands and minds are needed. This initiative fully addresses that.”

De Bosscher noted that Gent has received funding to turn six of its daycare centers into practice centers. “Per career switcher, we receive €50,000 in wage costs from the Flemish government,” she explained. The career switchers will combine work and study, receiving a fair wage — though lower than that of already qualified staff — while completing their training.

“This practice center plan truly addresses the need for trained hands and minds,” De Bosscher added. She emphasized that the half-time learning coach per four trainees ensures experienced caregivers can serve as mentors without becoming overburdened.

Progress and Scale

According to Gennez, 1,100 new childcare places have already been added in the first five months of 2026. “We are investing in thousands of extra places in the coming years, but for that we also need enough people,” the minister said. “I continue to focus on the 3 P’s: price, places and personnel. These learning-working trajectories ensure that people who perhaps never thought about a job in childcare still find their way to the sector.”

With 80 centers each able to take on up to four trainees, the program could accommodate up to 320 career switchers initially. Against the backdrop of thousands of unfilled positions across the sector, this represents a meaningful but incremental step.

Analysis and Outlook

The timing of the announcement is notable. Just days earlier, on June 3, BRUZZ reported that three Brussels GO! crèches were closing due to Flemish budget cuts, and De Standaard reported on June 4 that overall licensed childcare places declined in 2025. The new program may help offset these losses, though questions remain about whether it can keep pace with the scale of the crisis.

The program runs through December 31, 2028, giving participating centers several years to train a new generation of childcare workers. The initiative represents a practical, on-the-job training solution that bypasses the lengthy formal education routes traditionally required for childcare qualifications.

As Flanders continues to grapple with its childcare challenges, the success of these learning-working trajectories will depend on recruitment, retention, and the quality of on-site mentorship — factors that will determine whether this innovative approach can deliver the trained workforce the sector urgently needs.