AfD on education

The AfD wants to keep sex education out of kindergarten and elementary school and sees it primarily as the parents' task. In kindergarten teaching, it rejects content it calls early sexualization, such as addressing queer ways of life.

The AfD wants no sex education in kindergarten and elementary school. It says this is first a job for parents. Kindergarten should be about playing and learning. The party rejects topics like queer ways of life there.

In the party's view, sex education must match a child's physical and emotional development. In kindergarten it rejects three things: detailed depiction of sexual practices, questioning one's own gender, and promoting queer ways of life. Nurseries and kindergartens should focus on age-appropriate play and learning.

The AfD wants a tiered school system that separates students by ability, with high standards in every school type. The Gymnasium (academic high school) should again focus on preparing students for university, and the party rejects what it sees as excessive academization.

The AfD wants different kinds of schools for different talents. Standards should be high in all schools. The Gymnasium should prepare students for university. The AfD thinks too many students go to the Gymnasium.

According to the platform, a tiered system includes teacher training tailored to each school type. The Abitur (university entrance diploma) should again reliably prove readiness for university, while lower and intermediate diplomas should qualify students for skilled vocational training. The AfD criticizes that half of each age group attends the Gymnasium while skilled workers are lacking in the trades. It also rejects making home learning permanent as a response to the teacher shortage, saying in-person teaching cannot be replaced.

The AfD wants to put the Regelschule (Thuringia's non-academic secondary school) at the center of the school system, with more hands-on lessons and career guidance. All schools should give grades for behavior, participation and orderliness from second grade on.

The AfD wants to strengthen the Regelschule. That is a type of secondary school in Thuringia. It should offer more practical lessons. Students should do internships at local companies. All schools should grade behavior, participation and orderliness.

According to the platform, teaching at the Regelschule should become less theory-heavy; it names woodworking, metalworking, electrical engineering and home economics. Internships should mainly take place at companies in the region. The goal is to better meet Thuringia's need for skilled workers. Schools should also teach virtues such as punctuality, diligence and a sense of order. Conduct grades should stay where they exist and return statewide where they do not.

The AfD wants to preserve the network of Förderschulen (special-needs schools) across Thuringia and give parents a right to have their child taught there. It calls inclusion under the current school law a mistake and demands inclusion with a sense of proportion.

The AfD wants to keep special-needs schools in Thuringia. Parents should have the right to send their child there. The AfD thinks the school law pushes joint classes too hard. Children with disabilities should get good support.

In the AfD's view, inclusion as currently practiced comes at the expense of students, teachers and parents. Every child with disability-related learning difficulties should get suitable support. The platform sees the conditions for this in special-needs schools: medical care, technical aids, specially trained teachers and quiet spaces. These schools should remain reachable close to home.

The AfD wants to preserve the network of vocational schools, especially in rural areas, and draw more young people into dual vocational training. Advanced vocational qualifications for master craftsmen, technicians and business specialists should be free of charge.

The AfD wants to keep vocational schools, especially in the countryside. More young people should do vocational training. Training to become a master craftsman or technician should cost nothing. People who get this support should stay in Thuringia longer.

The platform argues that thinning out the vocational school network made training less attractive because of longer commutes. A package of measures is meant to bring more young people into dual training. Master craftsmen from trades and industry should be allowed to teach theory at vocational schools after a part-time follow-up degree. Free tuition covers qualifications at levels 6 and 7 of the German Qualifications Framework and should be tied to staying in the state for a longer period.

The AfD rejects expanding compulsory all-day schools. It prefers half-day schools with voluntary afternoon care, arguing that the compulsory model intrudes too far into parents' decisions.

The AfD does not want mandatory all-day schools. Lessons should take place in the morning. In the afternoon there should be voluntary care. Parents should decide for themselves.

According to the platform, all-day schools bring more supervision but no additional teaching. The AfD fears that children's free time and club activities would suffer. It speaks of childhood becoming over-schooled. The open model with a voluntary afternoon program should remain in place.

The AfD wants minimum enrollment rules applied flexibly so that small rural schools can stay open. Independent schools should be funded well enough to pay teachers like state schools do without charging high parent fees.

The AfD wants to keep small schools in the countryside. Children should go to school close to home. Independent schools should get enough money from the state. Children from poor families should also be able to attend them.

Rules on the minimum number of students should be handled so that school closures are avoided where possible. The platform sees independent schools as a gain for the quality and variety of education. The AfD wants to secure good staffing prospects for them. Salaries at independent schools should be able to match those at state schools.

The AfD demands that school staff be penalized for breaches of political neutrality. Programs it regards as politically motivated should not take place in schools, including the "Bildungsplan bis 18 Jahre" (education plan up to age 18) and related teacher training.

The AfD says schools must be politically neutral. Teachers should not put down any party. Those who break the rule should face consequences. The AfD also wants no political programs in schools.

The platform cites the Basic Law, the state constitution, the school law and the Beutelsbach Consensus, a guideline for civic education. Under it, controversial topics must also be presented as controversial in class. In the AfD's view, one-sided influence, disparaging particular parties and pressure that excludes certain opinions are not allowed. It calls the education plan up to age 18 and the related teacher training ideological.

The AfD wants to prohibit gender-inclusive language in Thuringia's schools. It argues that such texts are often grammatically wrong and make learning harder for students.

The AfD wants to ban gender-inclusive language in schools. This kind of language uses special word forms for women and men. The AfD says such texts are often wrong. It says they make learning harder.

The platform states that schools increasingly use teaching materials written in gender-inclusive language. The AfD rejects the idea that gender is socially constructed and can be freely changed. It calls the style artificial. The ban would apply to schools in Thuringia.

The AfD rejects Islamic religious instruction in Thuringia's schools as long as questions of separating it from political Islam remain open. Sex education should not take place in kindergarten or elementary school but only during puberty.

The AfD does not want Islamic lessons in Thuringia's schools. It says political Islam does not fit with a secular state. Sex education should start only at puberty. It should not happen in kindergarten or elementary school.

The AfD is convinced that political Islam is incompatible with key rules of a secular constitutional state. Only once the dividing line is settled could such instruction be considered, in its view. On sex education, the platform demands that it match children's physical and emotional development. The AfD calls earlier instruction premature sexualization.

The AfD wants sex education in schools to be taught solely by teachers. Outside providers and project-based formats would no longer be allowed. Schools are to promote an approach that presents having a child of one's own as something natural.

The AfD wants to change sex education in schools. Only teachers should teach it. People from outside should no longer do this. Schools should show that having your own child is a good thing.

The platform rules out third parties and projects as a way of delivering sex education. Only the school's own teachers would be responsible. In terms of content, the AfD calls for what it describes as a life-affirming approach to sex education. That approach should convey that a child of one's own enriches a person and is part of who they are.

The AfD wants school grades to be mandatory from second grade onward and wants students to be able to repeat any grade level. According to the platform, the performance principle should apply consistently at every level. The special tenth-grade assessment at Gymnasium schools is to be kept.

The AfD wants grades starting in second grade. Students should be able to repeat any school year. The tenth-grade exam at Gymnasium schools should stay. The AfD says children need clear feedback on their work.

In the platform's view, grades give students comparable information about what they can do. Repeating a year should be possible at every grade level, which the platform says is not currently the case in Thuringia; the AfD sees this not as a stigma but as an opportunity for students who are struggling. Accommodations for children with special needs should be noted on the report card and should not replace individual support. The Besondere Leistungsfeststellung (BLF, a tenth-grade assessment) is to be kept and count as an intermediate school-leaving certificate.

The AfD wants to revise school curricula and set fixed content requirements for every subject. Elementary school should center on reading, writing and arithmetic, and cursive handwriting should be taught as a requirement. It rejects the “reading through writing” method and digital devices in elementary schools.

The AfD wants new curricula. They should say exactly what children learn in each subject. Elementary school children should learn cursive handwriting. There should be no tablets or computers in elementary schools.

The platform criticizes that since the switch to competency-based teaching in the 1990s, lessons have been aimed less at subject knowledge. In the AfD's view, the “reading through writing” method often leads to lasting spelling problems, especially for weaker students or children who speak dialect; it favors a modern primer-based method instead. Cursive is said to foster care, memory and linguistic creativity. Early use of digital devices is said to hinder learning handwriting, which is why they should not be used in elementary schools.

The AfD wants the state to give municipalities and school operators enough funding to renovate school buildings and keep equipment up to date. It also wants binding quality standards for school lunches.

Many schools in Thuringia are in bad shape. The AfD wants the state to give towns more money for this. Schools should also have good equipment. There should also be fixed rules for healthy school lunches.

The platform speaks of a renovation backlog running into the billions for buildings and equipment at Thuringia's schools. Renovation should be possible without heavy red tape. For school meals, the AfD wants to develop standards that guarantee every student a substantial and healthy lunch. The food should be seasonal and regional, because the platform says a balanced diet supports success at school.

The AfD wants children without sufficient German to be taught in preparatory classes first. Only after a mandatory assessment would they move into regular classes or vocational schools. According to the platform, regular lessons are not the right place for learning the language.

Some children from abroad do not speak German yet. The AfD wants to teach them in separate classes first. They learn German there. Then there is a test. Only after that do they join a regular class.

The preparatory classes would be mandatory for foreign children without adequate language skills. Moving into a regular class or vocational school would depend on a binding test of language ability. In addition, the age structure in elementary and secondary school classes should be taken into account.

The AfD wants to give school authorities and teachers tools to respond quickly to violence and disruptive behavior. The class's right to undisturbed lessons should count for more than one individual's schooling.

The AfD wants faster action against violence in schools. Teachers and authorities should get simple tools for this. The class should be able to learn in peace. That should matter more than lessons for one disruptive student.

This covers violence and destructive behavior directed at students, teachers or property. The measures should be usable quickly and without heavy paperwork. The platform justifies this by saying that school is a place of learning.

The AfD wants to keep and expand Thuringia's specialized Gymnasium schools for sports, languages and music. All students with the relevant talent should be able to attend them. In addition, every school should offer support for gifted students.

Thuringia has special high schools for sports, languages and music. The AfD wants to keep these schools and expand them. Talented students should be able to learn there. Other schools should also offer help for very gifted children.

The platform names the sports schools in Oberhof, Erfurt and Jena, the language school in Schnepfenthal and the music school in Weimar. In the platform's view, these schools offer very good conditions for special talents. Individual support for gifted students should also be available at all schools.

The AfD wants digital media used in class with a sense of proportion and rejects replacing teachers with technology. It considers a ban on artificial intelligence in schools unrealistic. Instead, students and teachers should learn to deal with it critically.

The AfD wants computers in class to be used in moderation. Technology should not replace teachers. The AfD does not want to ban programs like ChatGPT in schools. Students should learn what these programs can and cannot do.

Students should learn to use modern media sensibly. According to the platform, this includes education about risks such as addictive behavior, nearsightedness, lack of exercise or empathy, as well as data protection and data security. On artificial intelligence, the AfD assumes the development cannot be stopped and has both good and bad consequences for schools. Students and teachers should examine what these programs make possible and where their limits lie.

The AfD wants teacher demand and canceled lessons to be recorded openly and wants to relieve teachers of paperwork. To counter the teacher shortage, it proposes faster hiring, more university places, a scholarship and a new teacher training college.

Thuringia does not have enough teachers. The AfD wants an exact count of how many are missing. Assistants should take office work off teachers' hands. There should be more university places for future teachers. The AfD also wants to found a new college for teachers.

The demand calculation should also include teachers on secondment and those on long-term sick leave; every form of lesson not taught as planned should be recorded separately and published. School administrative assistants would take over routine tasks everywhere. The platform calls for a leaner application process, more teacher training places, a quota for students from Thuringia and a scholarship for students who commit to teaching for a longer period at an assigned Thuringian school. A Pädagogische Hochschule (teacher training college) would train elementary and Regelschule teachers and qualify career changers. After-school educators should be able to qualify to teach up to two elementary school subjects, excluding German and math.

The AfD wants to strengthen Thuringia's universities and withdraw political support from what it calls left-wing identity politics. In its view, this movement politicizes research and teaching and endangers academic freedom.

The AfD wants to strengthen universities in Thuringia. It says left-wing groups bring too much politics into universities. It says this harms the freedom of research and teaching. The AfD wants to stop supporting this kind of politics.

The platform points to the importance of education and science for the economic competitiveness of a country with few natural resources. According to the AfD, activists invoke discrimination and inequality to attack society's history, culture and traditions. It says university leaders give in to this pressure and that the state's Left–SPD–Green government has adopted this agenda as its own. The AfD wants to counter this and cites the freedom of research and teaching guaranteed by the Basic Law.

The AfD wants to abolish gender studies at Thuringia's universities. It regards the field as ideologically driven and denies that it is a real science.

The AfD wants no gender studies at universities in Thuringia. Gender studies looks at the roles of the sexes. The AfD says it is not real science. So the subject should be dropped.

The platform sees an ideological motive behind the political funding of certain academic fields. It names gender studies as an example. The AfD calls it a pseudoscience and demands that it no longer be pursued at Thuringian universities.

The AfD wants students to no longer be automatic members of their university's official student body. In its view, the student bodies' committees use their position for one-sided left-wing politics.

Today all students are members of the student body. That is the group that speaks for students at a university. The AfD wants to end this duty. It says these groups do one-sided left-wing politics.

The platform points out that bodies such as the student council are usually elected by only a small share of students. Even so, it says, they shape the political climate on campus. The AfD accuses them of undermining free speech, paying for left-leaning events and working with far-left groups. For that reason, mandatory membership would be dropped.

The AfD wants to give universities more independence and adequate base funding. Accreditation of degree programs would be dropped, and universities would again be allowed to offer Diplom and Magister programs. German would be promoted as a language of teaching and research.

The AfD wants to give universities more freedom and enough money. Universities should be allowed to offer Diplom and Magister again. These are older German degrees. Students should pick their degree themselves. German should stay important at universities.

The platform invokes Humboldt's ideal of education and wants to strengthen both university autonomy and students' personal responsibility. Base funding and needs-based funds are meant to give planning security. As bureaucratic burdens, the AfD names the accreditation process, which it wants to abolish, and the administrative effects of modular bachelor's and master's programs. It wants to counter the school-like structure of studies that it traces to the Bologna reforms. English is acknowledged as the international language of science, but it should not push German out of Thuringian universities.

The AfD wants to charge tuition fees to students from countries outside the EU. It justifies this with high dropout rates and the claim that many leave Thuringia after graduating. The revenue would benefit research and teaching.

Students from countries outside the EU should pay for their studies. The AfD says many of them drop out. Many leave Thuringia afterward. The universities should get the money.

According to the platform, non-EU students make up 35 percent of students in Thuringia on average, and up to 70 percent in some programs. Often these are especially costly programs, it says. The AfD expects the fees to bring universities millions in extra revenue. That money could go toward better research and teaching.

The AfD wants training in non-academic health professions to stay free of school fees. In addition, trainee Heilerziehungspfleger (disability care workers) should get substantial financial relief to attract more recruits.

People training as elder care nurses or physical therapists no longer pay school fees in Thuringia. The AfD wants it to stay that way. Trainees in disability care should also pay less. This should bring more young people into these jobs.

School fees for professions such as elder care nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists were dropped in 2022, which the AfD attributes largely to its own efforts. The party rules out bringing them back. It justifies this with the shortage of skilled workers in social and health professions. Trainee disability care workers should also bear noticeably lower costs.

The AfD wants schools to teach regional culture and its history thoroughly. Public music and art schools should receive adequate funding. Musically gifted children should be supported regardless of their social background.

Children should learn a lot about Thuringia's culture at school. Music schools and art schools should get enough money. Gifted children should get support. This also goes for children from poor families.

History, German and arts classes in particular should teach where high culture comes from and how it developed. Thuringia's traditions should be placed in their German and European context. For especially gifted children, the program names scholarships as one possible tool. The party points to the Thuringian law on music and youth art schools, which it says was passed under its pressure and secures funding for these schools.

The AfD wants sports and exercise built more firmly into daily life at kindergartens and schools and calls for a daily exercise hour. It cites a lack of physical activity among children, which it says COVID measures made worse, and wants to rule out future bans on sports.

Many children do not move enough. The AfD wants one hour of exercise in school every day. Kindergartens should also do more sports. Sports bans like during COVID should never happen again.

According to the platform, school PE lessons usually fall short of the recommended minimum of physical activity. Children need plenty of space and opportunities to move, indoors and outdoors. The COVID restrictions shut down recreational sports for months and caused many people to leave clubs, the platform says. The AfD wants to revive sports life and rule out any future “sports lockdown.”