By 2025, every elementary schoolchild in Germany should have a legal entitlement to full-time care. That is what the Union and SPD had agreed in the coalition agreement. To enable this project to be implemented, the Federal Cabinet decided on Wednesday to take a first preparatory action.
The Cabinet decided on the creation of a special fund of two billion euros in the years 2020 and 2021. The funds are to flow into the extension and conversion of premises and buildings at the approximately 15,000 elementary schools in Germany. So the federal government wants to support the countries in the full-day expansion.
The full-day expansion will help especially children and mothers, said Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU). Family Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) said that first-graders would often be at their doorstep at 12 o'clock, "with an empty stomach, but with a bag full of unfinished homework." It is simply not possible for parents to have a regular job. "
The Cabinet decision had taken a "big step" forward, according to Giffey. The legal changes, which should lead to the actual legal claim, will be put on the way later. When that happens is still unclear.
There is also strong skepticism as to whether the efforts will even be sufficient to ensure that all willing parents actually receive all-day care for their child in just over five years - including from the states, cities and municipalities. They doubt that the money will last.
Countries demand more help from the federal government
"This first step will not be enough to solve the great task", Ties Rabe, Hamburg's school senator and spokesman for the SPD-led ministries of education, says. More would have to follow. Rabe expects investment costs of 7.5 billion euros to implement the legal claim. In addition, additional annual operating costs of € 4.5 billion are expected.
This is shown by studies by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs. Countries and municipalities rightly expected from the federal government further investment subsidies and above all the long-term participation in the high operating costs already enshrined in the coalition agreement, reports Rabe. "There is still much to do."
Hundreds of thousands of additional seats needed
The German Children and Youth Institute (DJI) also considers the planned investments too low, but according to the model calculations of the institute it assumes a slightly different amount. According to this, funds amounting to at least € 5.3 billion will be needed by 2025, in addition to running costs of € 3.2 billion per year.
The institute had been commissioned by the federal government and the states to disagree on the expected costs with a prognosis. According to the calculations, in 2025 higher birth rates and immigration mean that around 187,000 elementary school children can be expected more than initially estimated by the Conference of Ministers of Education.
A survey of the DJI had also revealed that almost three-quarters of parents wish for childcare at primary school. To meet this need, 665,000 new childcare places would have to be created. Considering only the demand for care from 14.30 clock, missing according to DJI calculations currently 322,000 places. Family Minister Giffey expects up to one million extra places needed.
So far, about 40 percent of elementary school students in Germany are cared for in the afternoon at school. However, the regional differences are immense. While in Hamburg almost all elementary school children have full-time care, the rate in Baden-Württemberg is 16.7 percent. Thus, the difference in resources needed for the full-day expansion is enormous.
"Investments do not cover the demand"
The union for education and science (GEW) warns that the implementation of the legal claim could fail due to shortage of skilled workers. As far as teachers and educators are concerned, the labor market has been swept away in many regions. In a statement, the GEW writes that if the legal entitlement to full-time employment takes effect from 2025 onwards, the relevant training capacities would now have to be significantly increased and occupations becoming more attractive - in the long term and sustainably.
Parents in Germany already have a legal right to care for their child from the age of one - until they enter school. Giffey also cites Kita's expansion as a successful example of how a legal entitlement to care can succeed. In several regions, however, there is an extreme lack of daycare, parents find despite intensive efforts difficult or no care for their child.
The afternoon care of primary school children is not only a political issue, because many working parents can at least better combine family and work. Experts also expect more equal opportunity from full-time care at school: if children receive support at school for longer, their educational success depends less on their parents' home.