Following the measures issued by the national crisis unit on Tuesday evening due to the weather conditions on Wednesday, daycares across Luxembourg had to quickly adapt to the situation. RTL managed to speak to Laurent Zimmer, head of the Esch-sur-Alzette daycares, in the midst of all the action.
The southern town has 17 government-operated nurseries that usually care for up to 1,600 children each day. After Tuesday’s announcement, management immediately initiated steps to ensure continued services as schools are to remain closed on Wednesday.
As numerous parents already informed officials on Tuesday that their children would be staying home due to the weather conditions, the nurseries reorganised children into new groups.
Zimmer was happy to announce that everything went according to plan on Wednesday, with all facilities opening as scheduled. Communication with parents also went well, he said, even if some seemed to slightly panic on Tuesday.
A challenge for the Esch nurseries is getting food to their facilities. While all kitchens are operative and preparing food for the day, delivering meals depends on the conditions of roads and streets in the area.
If necessary, educators in nurseries will themselves cook food with children. Activities have also been planned for the rest of the day for those that made it to schools.
Other local food providers, such as the ‘Meals on Wheels’ (‘Repas-sur-Roues), have confirmed that they are operating on Wednesday, but warn of potential delays.
