AfD on education

The AfD wants to revise the curriculum frameworks and put reading, writing, and arithmetic at the center. School graduates should again be ready for vocational training or university. According to the platform, schools should deliver education and be free of what the AfD calls ideological influence.

The AfD wants to change the school curricula. Reading, writing, and math should matter most. Elementary schools should again teach local studies and crafts. The AfD wants no political influence in class.

Curricula would include more mandatory knowledge content, including a fixed canon of German works. Elementary schools would bring back Heimatkunde (local and regional studies) and crafts; secondary schools would strengthen economics and computer science, and religion and ethics would become required electives. Controversial topics are to be presented as controversial in class and in textbooks, and civic education is to focus on the structure of the state and the political system. For career guidance, the AfD supports involving companies and the Bundeswehr but rejects advocacy groups with their own political agenda in the classroom. The platform rejects sex education that informs students about forms of sexual pleasure.

The AfD wants to strengthen the principle of achievement in schools and teach self-discipline. The platform considers effort, self-discipline, and the ability to handle frustration to be prerequisites for successful teaching. It sees parents as sharing responsibility for their children's respectful behavior.

The AfD wants more discipline in schools. Achievement should count more again. There should be grades for behavior. Students who disrupt class should go to separate rooms.

The platform names Kopfnoten (grades for conduct and participation) and school agreements on discipline as tools. The model is the approach of Michael Rudolph, former head of the Friedrich-Bergius-Schule. Student competitions are to be expanded. Time-out rooms would be set up for students who disrupt class.

The AfD wants to preserve the tiered school system and group classes by similar achievement levels. Places at secondary schools would be awarded by grades and proximity to home, no longer partly by lottery. Highly gifted children are to receive targeted support.

The AfD wants to keep different types of schools. School places should go by grades and where a child lives. The lottery should no longer play a role. Very gifted children should get their own schools.

Currently 30 percent of places are awarded by lottery; that would end, while a rule for siblings is planned. Voluntary entrance tests for the Gymnasium (academic secondary school) would stay, and moving students from the Gymnasium to another school type is to be possible. Seven existing Gymnasien would become elite schools for the highly gifted, support would begin in daycare, and the cap on places at Gymnasien starting in fifth grade would be lifted. Secondary schools without their own upper level would get priority for workshops; in the long run the AfD aims for a new school type called the Praxisschule (practical school).

The AfD wants to expand the pilot project known as "Deutsch-Garantie-Klassen" (German guarantee classes). Elementary schools with many children whose home language is not German would set up separate classes for children with proven strong German skills. The party also wants to ban gender-inclusive language in schools and keep teaching cursive handwriting.

The AfD wants special classes in elementary schools. Only children with very good German can join them. A test will check this. Gender-inclusive language will be banned in schools. Children will still learn cursive writing.

The special classes would be created at Berlin elementary schools with a high share of students whose home language is not German. Admission would require a scientifically sound test showing strong German skills. For reading and writing, the program relies on the primer method and dictation, arguing that children need early corrective feedback. Cursive handwriting would continue to be taught. The AfD wants to prohibit the use of gender-inclusive language in schools.

The AfD wants no further delays to school renovations and new buildings, and no cuts to room sizes in school construction. Learning materials would become entirely free, and free school lunch would stay. The party wants to reverse the rule that school meals should largely avoid meat for climate reasons.

The AfD wants to renovate and build schools without delay. School books and other learning materials will be free. School lunch will stay free. Schools will be allowed to serve more meat again.

Instead of quickly erected modular annex buildings, the AfD wants architecturally appealing schools that meet educational needs. Schoolyards would encourage movement, have more greenery and less paved surface. School libraries would be properly equipped. For school meals, the program calls for healthy regional food covering the full range of farm products. The AfD also backs student budgets and student involvement in cleaning, serving meals and as junior caretakers.

The AfD wants flagpoles flying the German flag at every school and wants to introduce school uniforms. Elementary schools would stay screen-free, with smartphones banned there. According to the program, students' cultural or financial background should not be in the foreground at school.

The AfD wants the German flag at every school. Students will wear the same school clothing. Parents will get money for it. Elementary schools will have no screens and no phones.

The AfD would provide funding for the flagpoles. Parents would receive financial help to buy school clothing. At secondary schools, carrying smartphones would be handled more strictly so that attention and social-emotional development do not suffer. Digital tools in class should follow sound teaching concepts only, while the AfD wants to push ahead with digitalization in school administration.

The AfD wants to tackle canceled lessons with a law guaranteeing instruction and teacher staffing at 110 percent. Maximum class size would be written into the school law. Grades and repeating a year would remain, and teachers at schools in disadvantaged areas would teach fewer hours.

The AfD wants fewer canceled lessons. A law and more teachers should make this happen. The law will also set the largest class size. Grades will stay. Teachers at difficult schools will teach fewer hours.

Teaching quality would be monitored through targeted classroom visits and more student evaluations. The program favors teacher-led instruction, arguing that students from less educated families are often overwhelmed by self-organized learning. An online portal would show data for each school on enrollment demand, the share of students whose home language is not German, career-changer teachers and staffing levels. At schools in disadvantaged areas, only measures with scientifically proven effects would be carried out. The bonus paid to teachers there would be replaced by a reduced teaching load.

The AfD announces a zero-tolerance strategy on school violence, including calling in the police and possible expulsion. Unexcused absences would be recorded digitally and reported automatically. The youth welfare office would have to be informed of truancy reports.

The AfD wants to punish violence at schools strictly. If someone attacks a teacher, the police will be called. Dangerous students can be removed from school. Schools will record absences digitally. If a student skips school, the school calls the parents right away.

Abusive behavior below the threshold of a crime would also be sanctioned. For violence against teachers by students or outsiders, the program calls for a mandatory reporting procedure and police involvement. Schools would be told when their students commit violent acts elsewhere, and children and teens who endanger others would be taught in alternative settings. Parents would be called at the start of the school day when a student is absent without excuse. The digital class register would generate truancy reports automatically, and heavily burdened districts would get a dedicated social services team for school avoidance.

The AfD wants to preserve Förderschulen (special-needs schools) and create the missing school places for children with disabilities. Mainstream schools would be required to include a child only if the child is likely to reach the school's learning goals and the class is not unduly affected.

The AfD wants to keep special-needs schools. There should be enough places for children with disabilities. Regular schools must take these children only under conditions. The child must be able to reach the learning goal. The class must not be disturbed too much.

According to the program, the shortage of places mainly affects children with intellectual disabilities. Teaching toward different learning goals within one class would take place only at designated inclusive focus schools. Following Bavaria's model, the AfD wants partner classes of special-needs schools located at mainstream schools. It justifies keeping special-needs schools by pointing to parents' wishes.

The AfD wants to strengthen dual vocational training over purely school-based training and rejects a levy on companies that do not train. Instead it relies on an agreement with business and tax relief for companies that train apprentices. Vocational schools would be better equipped and dorms for apprentices created.

The AfD wants to strengthen training in companies and vocational schools. Companies should not pay a fee if they do not train. Companies that train will pay less tax. Vocational schools will get more staff and equipment. There will be dorms for apprentices.

Career guidance would get more room in the Wirtschaft-Arbeit-Technik (economics, work, technology) curriculum and involve hands-on visits to companies. Following Hamburg's example, the AfD wants to found a state institute for vocational education. The eleventh compulsory school year for young people without a training place should not become a holding pattern. Advanced qualifications such as master craftsman or technician training would receive financial support, and second-chance education would be strengthened.

The AfD wants to tighten disciplinary rules in Berlin's higher education law so that occupations can be cleared more easily and violent disrupters expelled quickly. Universities would also be required by law to adopt a "Kodex Wissenschaftsfreiheit" (academic freedom code). In the program's view, research and teaching are threatened by ideology and cancel culture.

The AfD wants stricter rules at universities. Occupied rooms should be cleared faster. People who disrupt with violence should have to leave the university. Universities should adopt fixed rules for free science.

The program calls for firm action against occupations, property damage and hatred of Jews at universities. Renting out university rooms for political agitation from outside would be stopped to ensure neutrality. The AfD cites the University of Hamburg as the model for the code and supports the "Netzwerk Wissenschaftsfreiheit" (Academic Freedom Network). It also wants to strengthen university autonomy through a broader innovation clause, rejects equal four-way representation in governing bodies and wants to keep the professors' majority.

The AfD wants to introduce deferred tuition fees, with repayment depending on later income. It also proposes an additional billion euros for science and research and higher core funding for universities. The program considers it unfair that non-academics help pay through taxes for the studies of future high earners.

The AfD wants tuition fees. People pay them only after their studies. Only those who later earn a lot must pay. Universities will also get one billion euros more for research.

Only graduates who later earn well above average would have to repay, so that studying does not become an incalculable risk. The fees are meant to give universities extra money for teaching and research. Higher core funding is intended to reduce dependence on third-party grants. The goal is for Berlin's universities to compete with the world's leading research locations. Dilapidated university buildings would also be renovated and the BESSY III research facility brought into operation by the mid-2030s.

The AfD wants to push Berlin's universities to allow military research as a matter of principle. It argues that such research is crucial for the armed forces' readiness and that Germany cannot rely solely on research done abroad.

The AfD wants universities to be able to do research for the military. It says this is important for the armed forces. Germany should not depend only on other countries' research.

According to the program, refusing security-related research on principle weakens defense capability and puts lives at risk. Germany should not merely benefit from other countries' work on military innovation. Universities would therefore be urged to make such research possible in principle.

The AfD wants to create more permanent positions in academia and fund them through the university contracts between the state and its universities. It also wants to bring young German researchers back from abroad. The program justifies this with the long periods of insecure employment and the emigration of qualified researchers.

Many young researchers only have short-term contracts. The AfD wants more permanent jobs at universities. The state should pay for them. German researchers abroad should come back. Researchers with children should not be at a disadvantage.

The additional permanent posts are to be financed through the university contracts, while enough open positions should remain for future early-career researchers. To counter the brain drain, the program proposes a return program for young German scientists abroad and a recruitment plan modeled on the “Rising Stars” program of LMU Munich. Time spent on family care should count more when contracts are extended and in selection procedures. Services such as dual-career support, tenure track, campus daycare and family offices are to be expanded, and student housing should include space for students with children.

Following the example of Baden-Württemberg, the AfD wants to charge tuition fees for students from countries outside the EU. The revenue is to go toward international student exchange. At the same time, German is to be strengthened as a language of scholarship.

Students from countries outside the EU should pay for their studies. Baden-Württemberg already does this. The money should support student exchange. The AfD also wants more German in science.

The fees would apply only to people without EU citizenship. The extra revenue is earmarked for measures that promote student exchange across borders. The program views the growing dominance of English in academia critically and wants to strengthen German so that, in its view, science does not become a matter for detached elites. In addition, Berlin's universities should be allowed to hold their own entrance exams for part of their places.

The AfD wants to restructure student self-government at Berlin's universities. Its model is the Bavarian system, which has no compulsory membership and no compulsory fee. The program cites low voter turnout, opaque spending and what it sees as improper general political activity by the student bodies.

Today all students in Berlin are members of the student body. They have to pay a fee for it. The AfD wants to change that. Nobody should have to be a member. Bavaria is the model.

The program accuses the student bodies of questionable spending and a lack of transparency and says student officials often represent small far-left groups. With turnout below ten percent, it argues, they lack political legitimacy. It also criticizes calls by the general student committees (ASten) of the three large universities to boycott Israeli partner universities. The AfD considers the compulsory fee constitutionally questionable.

The AfD wants to gradually convert teacher training into a single-phase, work-study degree. In the teacher training law, topics such as “diversity,” “queer” and “gender” are to give way to practical content. A scholarship program is meant to attract more teachers for shortage subjects.

The AfD wants to change how teachers are trained. Study and practice should happen together. Topics like gender should matter less. Teaching and classroom management should matter more. There should be scholarships for subjects with too few teachers.

Because of the teacher shortage, the program keeps a high number of teaching graduates as its target. Scholarships would go to first-year students in shortage subjects who commit to teaching in Berlin later. In the long term, a college of education is to be founded in cooperation with the universities. Instead of topics the AfD regards as politically imposed, the focus should be on lesson planning, classroom management, stress management and digital media education; the program refers to the Multikohortenstudie (multi-cohort study) for this.

The AfD wants to prohibit sexuality from being addressed in daycare centers and schools in ways it considers boundary-crossing. In its view, the "sex education of diversity" approach violates children's sense of modesty and makes abuse easier.

The AfD wants to ban certain lessons about sexuality in daycare and schools. It says: These lessons harm children. It also rejects readings by drag queens. Drag queens are mostly men who perform in women's clothes.

According to the program, the party rejects what it calls early sexualization, as well as "exploration rooms," "Original Play," and drag queen readings. The "Berliner Bildungsprogramm" (Berlin's early education curriculum) and the daycare law KitaFöG are to be geared toward age-appropriate child development. Considerations from outside the field should not take priority there.

The AfD wants four periods of physical education per week at all Berlin schools, taught in double periods. Swimming lessons are to start earlier, and schools are to get a legal right to bus transport to the pool. Every child in Berlin should be able to learn to swim.

The AfD wants more sports in school. There should be four periods of sports each week. Children should learn to swim in second grade. A bus should take the children to the pool.

Swimming lessons are to move gradually from third grade to second grade. The right to the so-called swim bus is to be written into the school law because, according to the program, several districts lack indoor pools and long trips cut into swimming time. Sports facilities should be available close to schools. In all-day schooling, every school should offer sports clubs covering a wide range of sports. For children with weak motor skills, the AfD plans dedicated remedial sports classes.

The AfD wants to strengthen children's music education with a state program and a music school law. The share of permanently employed teachers at music schools is to rise from 24 to at least 80 percent.

The AfD wants to strengthen music schools. Children should get a place more easily. Many more teachers should get a permanent job. There should be a new law for this.

The program plans a state program for music education, as called for by the state music council and a round table. In all-day schools, the JeKiMus concept is to link schools and music schools. Waiting lists should shrink and room conditions improve. Freelance contracts are to become regular employment contracts on a legally sound basis, without unjustified fixed terms and with credit for prior experience; current freelancers get priority. Preparatory training for music degrees is to be strengthened.