SPD Calls for Revisions to the Federal Government's Daycare Plans

Following Education Minister Conrad Clemens (CDU), the SPD in the Saxon State Parliament is also calling for improvements to the federal government’s daycare plans. The principle of “whoever commissions it, pays for it” must also apply to early childhood education, clarified SPD education expert Gerald Eisenblätter. “Whoever introduces new nationwide quality standards must also ensure that the states and municipalities are permanently able to implement them.”

Federal Government Aims for a Shift in Education Policy

Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) presented the draft bill for a new daycare law (Daycare Start Opportunities and Quality Development Act) this week. With language tests for all four-year-olds and targeted support in daycare centers, she aims to bring about a turnaround in education policy. The law is intended to ease children’s transition to elementary school. To this end, the federal government has pledged a total of 9.25 billion euros through 2034.

It is right to place a lasting focus on early childhood education, Eisenblätter said. “However, CDU Federal Minister Prien seems to have lost sight of the varying levels of development across the states if she leaves the states out in the cold regarding the measures already in place to improve quality and retain early childhood education professionals.” 

With the position paper “To Save Daycare Centers in the East — Retain Staff, Prevent Structural Breakdown,” the SPD policy spokespersons responsible for early childhood education in the five eastern German states had reached out to the federal government at an early stage and warned of the consequences in eastern Germany. 

Measures must fit into the existing daycare structure

“Mandatory language assessments and the targeted allocation of resources using a social index are welcome. However, the implementation must be tailored to local needs and fit into the existing daycare structure,” Eisenblätter emphasized. If, in the end, only 48 million euros instead of 97 million euros were to flow to Saxony, the preparation and follow-up time for early childhood educators and the substitute system in daycare would then have to be financed solely from the state budget, and new responsibilities would fall on the state and municipalities, then urgent adjustments would be necessary. 

Saxony’s Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs, Clemens, had made a similar argument on Friday. The draft combines more requirements with less support, he told the German Press Agency. “That won’t work.”