CDU/CSU on education

The CDU and the CSU want government and business together to spend 3.5 percent of economic output on research and development by 2030. More startups should emerge from top-level research and grow into global market leaders.

The CDU and the CSU want more money for research. Government and companies should spend more on it by 2030. More new companies should come out of research. Ocean research should also get stronger.

Research institutions are to be judged by the success of their spin-offs, especially by the venture capital those attract, and should benefit from them. Public research money is to be combined more with private capital, and technology transfer to mid-sized companies is to grow. The parties also want to expand marine and polar research, develop the German Alliance for Marine Research further, and keep renewing the research fleet.

The CDU and the CSU want every child to speak German when starting school. To this end, the developmental level of all three- to four-year-olds is to be assessed, and children who need support are to be required to attend a preschool program.

The CDU and the CSU want every child to know German before school. Experts should test all children at age three or four. Children with problems must then attend a program before school. The program Sprach-Kitas (language daycare) should start again.

With the help of education research, uniform standards for the assessment are to be created. The federal government, states and municipalities are to work together more closely. Another federal investment program is to support the expansion of childcare places. The parties want to create new legal foundations for cooperation between schools, youth services and integration assistance.

The CDU and the CSU want the quality of schooling not to depend on where a child lives. They rely on binding comparative tests, an Abitur (university entrance diploma) that is comparable across Germany, and more all-day programs at elementary schools.

The CDU and the CSU want equally good schools across Germany. Students should take similar tests everywhere. The Abitur diploma should be worth the same everywhere. Elementary school children should get more all-day programs.

Comparative tests and learning assessments are to be meaningful and mandatory. Standards are not to be leveled downward. In all-day programs, children are to be supported and challenged more individually, with reading, writing and arithmetic as the basis. The parties stress that besides compulsory schooling, a diploma is also expected. They want to expand the Jugend forscht science competition.

The CDU and the CSU want to launch a second DigitalPakt (digital pact) for schools and create a nationwide register of educational pathways, starting with an ID number for every student. The effects of early social media use are to be assessed scientifically, followed by a package of measures.

The CDU and the CSU want to make schools more digital. There should be a new program for this. Every student should get a number. This helps researchers study how students move through school. The parties also want to check how social media harms children.

The DigitalPakt Schule 2.0 is to fund infrastructure, learning software and training for teachers and school leaders. According to the parties, data protection should be handled pragmatically here. The register is to cover all levels of formal education and be regularly open to researchers. The parties justify this by saying education policy needs reliable data. On social media, a package for health protection and youth media protection is announced.

The CDU and the CSU regard vocational and academic education as equal in value and want to lay that down in binding form. In addition, dual vocational training, career guidance in schools and paths to a vocational qualification for low-skilled people are to be strengthened.

The CDU and the CSU say job training and university are worth the same. This should be written in a treaty between the federal government and the states. Vocational schools should get better. All schools should help with choosing a job. People without a qualification should be able to earn one step by step.

The German Qualifications Framework places qualifications from training and university on shared levels. The Alliance for Initial and Further Training is to continue, and training regulations are to be reviewed regularly. Fewer young people should be out of school, training or work. Partial qualifications are to become possible in more occupations, and options like the voluntary year in skilled trades better known. The higher federal civil service is also to be open to people with a bachelor's degree if they hold a doctorate or have several years of work experience.

The CDU and the CSU want to promote top-level research through competition and further develop the Excellence Strategy. Mid-level academic staff at universities are to be strengthened and research cooperation with Israel deepened.

The CDU and the CSU want to support very good research. Universities should compete for this. Applications should need less paperwork. Young researchers should get better chances. Germany should do more research with Israel.

The parties want to give universities and non-university research institutions capable structures and stable funding. The effort required for the Excellence Strategy's competition procedures is to be kept as low as possible. Especially talented early-career researchers are to be the focus so that academia remains an attractive employer. Israel is to be integrated more closely into the EU's research programs.

The CDU and the CSU want to expand strategic security research and remove restrictions on military research. The platform calls this research existentially important for Germany.

The CDU and the CSU want more research on security. Researchers should also be allowed to do research for the military. Today there are limits on that. These limits should go.

Existing expertise is to be pooled, and the players involved are to be connected and given targeted funding. A competence network is planned for this. A network for independent China studies is also to be set up, because the parties say Germany must deal with China with more expertise. Research partnerships on key technologies with the US, Canada, the UK and Israel are to be expanded.

The CDU and the CSU want BAföG (state student aid) and scholarships to cover living costs, and want applications to be fully digital. BAföG recipients are to be allowed to earn more on the side, and the student loan is to get a fixed interest rate.

BAföG is money from the state for students. It should be enough to live on. People should be able to apply fully online. People who get BAföG should be allowed to earn more on the side. Scholarships should also go up.

BAföG and the KfW student loan are to be better aligned. BAföG for study abroad is to be processed faster and handled centrally by a federal administration. The student loan is to come with fair terms and a fixed interest rate. Scholarships are to be expanded, awarded with little red tape and cover full living costs; the foundations for gifted students are to open up further to talent from vocational training. The Aufstiegs-BAföG (aid for advanced vocational training) is to give skilled workers more support.