CDU on education

The CDU wants to expand dual vocational training and promote it more strongly. Vocational schools are to become competence centers. The program sees well-trained skilled workers as the foundation of the economy.

In dual training, people learn at a company and at school. The CDU wants to strengthen this training. Schools should give better information about jobs. Vocational schools should get more tasks.

Career guidance is to become more effective at all secondary schools and toward parents. Part-time training is to get more attention. Vocational schools are to develop into centers for training, further education, technology transfer and business start-ups. The training facilities run by business and housing for apprentices ("Azubi-Wohnen") are to be strengthened further. The CDU also wants to watch how artificial intelligence changes the supply of training places and to support companies in adapting.

The CDU wants to abolish the fees for master craftsman training. Until then, the Meisterprämie (master craftsman bonus) is to be doubled to 3,000 euros. The reason given is that vocational and academic education are of equal value.

People who want to become master craftsmen pay fees today. The CDU wants to end these fees. Until then, there should be a bigger bonus. The bonus should be 3,000 euros.

Until the fees are abolished, the bonus is to rise to 3,000 euros, twice the current amount. The CDU wants this to recognize the achievement of future master craftsmen and to attract more young people to the skilled trades. It aims for the same in other sectors.

The CDU wants to scrap all civil clauses, meaning universities' self-commitments to do research only for civilian purposes. It argues that academic freedom also applies to security and defense research. It rejects state interference and ideological requirements in research and teaching.

Some universities only do research for peaceful purposes. This rule is called a civil clause. The CDU wants to abolish it. Universities should also be allowed to do defense research. The state should not tell researchers what to do.

The party also opposes creating institutions driven by a particular worldview. Basic funding for universities is to stay reliable and gain weight relative to project funding. The CDU wants to push for this in national research funding as well. Libraries and archives are to be strengthened as places of learning and as digital databases.

The CDU wants more staff at universities, easier top-level hiring and better conditions for students. University buildings are to be renovated and new ones built faster, along with more affordable dorm places. A "Stay in BW" program is meant to keep talent in the state.

The CDU wants to spend more money on universities. There should be more staff. Old buildings should be repaired. Students should get more low-cost dorm places. Talented people should stay in the state after their studies.

The investments include the student services organizations. The state is to co-finance federal investments and cover its share of research buildings funded jointly with the federal government. New buildings are to be standardized and modular. The "Stay in BW" program includes regional networks, mentoring and scholarships tied to a minimum stay in the state afterward. Universities are also to be supported in building international ties.

The CDU wants to concentrate and expand future technologies such as AI, quantum technology and life sciences at strong research sites. An innovation freedom act is meant to remove obstacles to top-level research. By 2036, the state is to be among the world's leading locations for cancer research.

The CDU wants to support research on new technologies more. These include artificial intelligence and medicine. A new law should remove obstacles for researchers. The state should be among the best in the world for cancer research.

Basic research, applied research and product development are to be linked more closely, and research factories are to speed up testing and scaling. The CDU wants to provide the buildings needed for clusters of excellence. The Mannheim/Heidelberg hospital alliance is to get continued support, and the state is to become an international center for clinical research. Universities are to cooperate more with each other and with companies; science and economic policy are to be more closely linked organizationally. In aerospace, the party plans a location campaign and a "SpaceLab BW."

The CDU proposes a new, tenth state university focused on artificial intelligence. The aim is to make Baden-Württemberg the leading AI location in Germany.

The CDU wants to found a new university in the state. It would focus on artificial intelligence, or AI. The state should lead Germany in AI. There should be more AI degree programs and professors.

The new university is to build on the experience of Cyber Valley and the IPAI innovation park. The goal is a network of university and non-university research, companies and public institutions. Additional money is to expand AI degree programs, professorships and research projects. The CDU stresses responsible, values-based use of AI and wants to promote ethical competence, also with regard to social and environmental effects.

The CDU wants a binding elementary school recommendation for all school types based on a "2 out of 3" model. The parents' wish, the teacher's recommendation and a test would then jointly decide which secondary school a child attends. This is meant to prevent children from being over- or under-challenged.

After elementary school, children move to another school. Three things should count: the parents' wish, the teacher's advice and a test. Two of them must agree. This should apply to all types of schools.

The recommendation is to be binding for all school types. The three components are the parents' wish, the class teacher's assessment and a test result. The CDU argues that this gives children schooling that fits them. In addition, digital learning-progress diagnostics in German and math are to give regular feedback in elementary schools.

The CDU wants to keep school grades because, in its view, they provide clarity about performance. Knowledge and content are to get more weight in class again; the party counts values education and good manners as part of the school's mission.

The CDU wants to keep school grades. In its view, grades show clearly what a child can do. School should focus more on knowledge again. Children should also learn good manners and values there.

Besides numerical grades, the platform names the Lernstand 1 and 2 assessments, Kompass 4 and the VERA comparison tests as guidance. In grades 9 and 10, central graded exams in German, math and English are to count toward promotion or the diploma when no final exam is due. Curricula and requirements are to be sharpened so that solid knowledge, arithmetic and reading comprehension are built up and tested. Method skills should support understanding but not crowd out learning content.

The CDU wants to keep and strengthen every type of secondary school, each with its own profile. Gymnasien (academic-track schools) should find it easier to keep offering the eight-year track alongside the new nine-year one, and new rules on minimum enrollment are meant to keep small local schools open.

The CDU wants to keep the different kinds of schools. Each kind should build on its strengths. Academic high schools may still offer the shorter eight-year path. Small schools close to home should stay open.

Realschulen should be able to become bilingual schools again, while Haupt- and Werkrealschulen focus on career orientation, company internships and one main class teacher. The program treats the Gemeinschaftsschule (comprehensive school) as one option for parents. Instead of requiring at least 16 pupils in grade 5, the average across all lower secondary grades would count. Partnerships between Realschulen and Haupt-/Werkrealschulen are to be made easier and backed by incentives. Gifted students are to be supported through programs with dedicated teaching hours, with a focus on STEM subjects and on the schools in Bad Saulgau and Schwäbisch Gmünd. Independent schools are also to receive reliable funding, with per-student rates adjusted every year and construction grants extended to renovations.

The CDU wants to keep the special-needs education and counseling centers (SBBZ) and secure more teaching there. It regards these centers, satellite classes and inclusive teaching at mainstream schools as equally valid paths, each within available resources.

There are separate schools for children with special needs. The CDU wants to keep these schools. Fewer lessons should be canceled there. Learning together at regular schools should also remain possible.

According to the program, what matters is how well the support fits the individual child. The CDU calls team teaching with two teachers everywhere desirable but not feasible in terms of staff. It says inclusion only works where staff, rooms and equipment on site are sufficient. The deployment of special-education teachers and classroom aides is to be coordinated in a more targeted way.

The CDU wants students of all ages to gain digital skills and every school to get a fiber-optic connection. Private smartphone use in class is to be prohibited under a single statewide rule.

All students should learn to handle digital media well. Every school should get very fast internet. Private phones should be banned in class. The rule should be the same across the state.

The state and municipalities are to settle who is responsible for devices, maintenance and support and to set minimum standards. Teachers will receive training, and digital teaching methods will become part of subject lessons. Schools should be able to use AI assistants in line with data protection rules. The "Digitale Schule" program continues, for example with robotics in elementary schools. The phone rule is to follow the recommendations of the Leopoldina science academy and apply in the same way to other devices.

The CDU wants a statewide rule requiring schools to work with Bundeswehr youth officers as part of civic education. It argues that the armed forces are part of the state and defend a free society.

Youth officers are soldiers who explain security policy. The CDU wants them to come to schools. All schools in the state would have to work with them. This would be part of civic education.

The requirement would apply across the whole state. The cooperation is meant to be part of civic education in schools. The program describes the Bundeswehr as a natural part of the state.

The CDU wants to tackle the teacher shortage with better working conditions, faster hiring and fewer reporting duties. School principals are to get relief and, at the same time, tools to reward strong performance and respond to breaches of duty.

There are not enough teachers. The CDU wants to make the job better. Principals should get help with office work. Good work should be rewarded. Teachers who neglect their duties should face consequences.

Teachers trained for elementary and lower-track schools who mostly teach at secondary level should be able to move up to pay grade A 13. The general pool of relief hours is to return to its earlier size; more department-head posts and relief hours for second deputy principals are under review. Clear criteria are planned for assessing performance, and for a lasting lack of effort the tools range from feedback to graduated sanctions. Teacher training is to become more practical and align subject choices with what schools need. The CDU will examine whether principals may order mandatory training. School administration is to be modernized with digital tools.