Central Parents' Association (ZEV) of the daycare centers for children in Bremen

Your child will soon be attending a daycare center, preschool, or after-school program, or is already doing so. Help us better adapt childcare options in Bremen to the needs of parents. Share your suggestions for implementing childcare services with the facilities and political bodies.

The ZEV

The ZEV in Bremen advocates for the interests of parents and children in crèches, kindergartens, and after-school care centers. To give parents' questions, wishes, and demands a voice, the ZEV seeks dialogue with politicians and administrators, childcare providers, and the press.

The committee intervenes in educational policy measures that are important for children in daycare facilities in the city of Bremen and their parents.

In order for the ZEV to represent the interests of parents well and successfully, it needs many committed fathers and mothers who take up the concerns and wishes and bring them to the ZEV, as well as active members who help shape the work of the ZEV.

The following applies to every daycare center…

… the parent representatives and the parent committees serve for the mutual exchange of information between parents and educators or the daycare management, as well as the participation of parents in various matters.

At the institutional level, for example, regarding questions about the educational concept and its implementation in everyday daycare life; at the political level, for example, regarding the framework that policymakers create for childcare in daycare centers. In this way, as a parent representative, you can exert influence on key matters.

There are many possibilities

At the group parents' evening, two parent representatives are elected to the parents' council. Information about the group's concept, activities, and plans is discussed. These representatives serve as contact persons for the parents in the group and the group's educators.

The elected parent representatives from each group form the parents' council of an institution. They engage in dialogue with educators and directors and reflect the opinions of the parents.

The elected parent representatives from all daycare centers can convene a central parent representative body. This body consists of the representatives from the parent representatives of the individual daycare centers within the same provider. Here, issues affecting multiple facilities are addressed.

Each general parents' association sends one member to the central parents' association (ZEV) of daycare centers in the city of Bremen for every thousand children (or fraction thereof) that the respective provider has taken in.

Your commitment is important!

Anyone can participate in the ZEV – for example, in working groups, as an IT expert or educator, and anyone can apply for a board position. Our members are all volunteers. Board members are elected by the delegates for two-year terms.

Get involved – together with other parents – in the parental involvement of your child's institution!

Get actively involved! It's a wonderful and interesting task.

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Working groups

To work in detail on key topics, we have decided to establish thematic working groups. The following working groups currently exist:

Inclusion Working Group

The working group “Inclusion” aims to engage in dialogue with parents, institutions and representatives of the education and social affairs departments so that barriers, injustices and discrimination can be reduced in the practical implementation of inclusion.

AG Hort

The ZEV also advocates for the interests of parents and children in after-school care centers. The issue of after-school care has been relevant for years and will remain so even after the legal entitlement to afternoon care in primary schools comes into effect in 2026.

In the AG Hort (Working Group for After-School Care), our aim is to identify questions, wishes and problems in this area and to advance these in discussions with politicians and administrators.

Working Group Healthy Nutrition in Daycare Centers and After-School Programs

The working group “Healthy nutrition in daycare and after-school care” was founded at the end of 2021 and deals with all aspects of a healthy and balanced diet in both daycare and after-school care.

Emergency childcare working group

Many parents complain about frequent emergency childcare days at their childcare facilities. A working group is currently being established to examine the causes and extent of this problem more closely.

All working groups are looking for more volunteers who would like to get involved! Please feel free to contact us at come join us.

>>Download: ZEV flyer