CDU on education

The CDU wants vocational and academic education to be treated as equal and plans to make advanced training for master craftsmen, technicians and certified business specialists free of charge. Schools are to hold a "Day of the Trades".

Master craftsman training should cost nothing. This also applies to technicians. After the exam, people get their costs back. Schools should hold a day for the trades. Local companies present themselves there.

After passing the master craftsman exam, all remaining costs are to be fully reimbursed. Young people are to be drawn to skilled trades and practical jobs early on. Secondary schools are to introduce a "Day of the Trades" where regional businesses present themselves.

The CDU wants an Innovation Freedom Act for Berlin that gives state-run research institutes the same flexibility federally funded institutes already have. At the same time, the transfer of research into applications and spin-offs is to be greatly improved.

Research should turn into new products faster. The CDU wants a new law for this. State research institutes should get more freedom. Universities should help more people start companies.

The model is the federal Academic Freedom Act. A start-up and innovation pact between government, academia and business is to strengthen networks and ease access to data. Transfer and spin-offs are to become a third pillar in university contracts, alongside regulatory sandboxes and test fields. The cap on university stakes in spin-offs via virtual shares is to be raised, and a uniform Berlin framework for intellectual property is planned. Projects such as FUBIC at the Free University, the TU's Chemical Invention Factory and the expansion of the BioTech Park in Buch are to move ahead.

The CDU wants to anchor entrepreneurship more firmly in university studies and academic careers. An internship program is to place 1,000 students a year in Berlin start-ups, backed by a state subsidy.

Students should learn how to start a company. The CDU wants 1,000 students a year to work in young companies. They do an internship there. The state pays 500 euros a month toward it.

The state is to contribute 500 euros per student per month. Entrepreneurship education is to be expanded in researchers' training, and a cross-university advisory network created. Transfer work is to count in the evaluation of academic careers. Sabbatical semesters for founding and transfer are to give more room for start-ups.

The CDU wants to clear the renovation backlog at Berlin's universities and draw up reliable investment plans together with them. Berlin is also to win more federal money from the Hightech Agenda, and the state higher education law is to cut red tape.

Many university buildings need repairs. The CDU wants to fix them. Building should go faster. Berlin should get more federal money for research. Rules for universities should be simpler.

The university construction company is to be reformed so projects move faster, and public-private partnerships are to be considered. The Berlin Higher Education Act is to be amended to remove duplicate administrative processes and micromanagement. The CDU supports the BESSY III large-scale research facility in Berlin. Universities are to share equipment, labs and services following the Berlin University Alliance model. Academic freedom and university autonomy are to be preserved.

The CDU wants to let universities charge tuition fees on a limited scale, for example for students well past the standard duration of study or students from non-EU countries. The revenue is to go toward better teaching and study conditions.

Studying in Berlin has no tuition fees today. The CDU wants to change that for some groups. Students who take much longer than planned should pay. Students from outside the EU should pay too. The money should improve teaching.

The goal is to give universities more financial room. Extra revenue is to flow directly into teaching and studies. In the CDU's view, this should also make Berlin more attractive as a place to study.

The CDU wants to expand inclusive teaching in mainstream schools while keeping dedicated special-needs centers. Parents should choose whether their child attends an inclusive school or a special-needs center. In the party's view, inclusion should be guided by the child's well-being.

Some children need extra help at school. The CDU wants more shared classes in regular schools. Special-needs schools should stay, too. Parents should decide which school their child goes to.

Inclusive options are to grow at both mainstream and special-needs schools. Children suspected of having special needs should be assessed before starting school. Special-education needs and language-support needs are to be clearly separated and addressed with distinct programs. The CDU wants to strengthen special-education support in primary schools and expand training for special-education teachers.

The CDU wants to keep Berlin's tiered school system and strengthen the Gymnasium (academic-track secondary school). It rejects experiments with individual school types. At the same time, moving between school types should become easier and fairer.

Berlin has different types of schools. The CDU wants to keep this system. The Gymnasium should get stronger. It is the school that prepares for university. Switching between school types should be easier.

The plan calls for more Gymnasium places starting in grade 5 and expanded programs for gifted students. Uniform rules for class tests and comparison tests in primary schools are meant to give a comparable basis for the transition to secondary school. It should remain possible to earn a diploma later at evening schools. European and international-profile schools, especially the Staatliche Europa-Schulen Berlin, are to expand, and bilingual options should be considered at new sites, particularly in the eastern districts.

The CDU wants to improve funding for independent and faith-based schools. A strengthened construction-cost subsidy is meant to create more school places, widen parents' choice, and take pressure off public schools.

Some schools are not run by the state. Churches or other groups run them. The CDU wants to give them more money for buildings. This should create more school places. Parents should have more choice.

The program calls independent and faith-based schools an indispensable part of Berlin's education system. Their funding should in future reflect changed economic conditions. The subsidy program for construction costs is to be strengthened.

The CDU wants to further expand the preschool year it reintroduced through the Kita-Chancenjahr (daycare opportunity year). No child should start school without speaking fluent German. The aim is for every child to have the necessary basics before school begins.

Berlin has a preschool year in daycare again. The CDU wants to make it bigger. All children should speak good German before school. Daycare and primary school should work more closely together.

The focus is on language support, social skills, and basic school skills, down to handling pen and paper. Daycare centers and primary schools are to cooperate more closely. Preschool groups should regularly get a look at everyday school life. The program points to an improved staff-to-child ratio in daycare.

The CDU wants to gradually reduce class sizes over the next five years where needed. Primary school classes should have at most 20 students, secondary classes at most 25. These caps are to be written into law.

The CDU wants smaller school classes. Primary classes should have at most 20 kids. Later classes should have at most 25. This should be in the law. The CDU wants to reach this in five years.

The reduction is to happen step by step over five years. The CDU also wants to keep hiring more teachers so that sick-day absences can be covered. All-day programs at primary schools are to improve in quality, with binding partnerships with sports clubs and music schools, for example.

The CDU wants binding minimum standards in German and math in primary schools. Grammar, spelling, and joined-up cursive handwriting should be taught systematically from first grade. In the party's slogan, school should involve less gendering and more reading, writing, and arithmetic.

All children should learn to read, write, and do math well in primary school. They should practice grammar and spelling from first grade. They should also learn cursive writing. The CDU wants less gender-neutral language in school.

German and math are to be strengthened in primary schools. Learning levels should be assessed regularly so support can be targeted. Voluntary holiday schools are meant to help students catch up in basic skills. A new mandatory 11th school year is meant to give young people without an apprenticeship a clear path.

The CDU rejects abolishing school grades and relies on clear performance standards and exams. Education policy is to be based more on data and research. All students should meet the national standards set by the Kultusministerkonferenz (conference of state education ministers).

The CDU wants to keep school grades. Children and parents should get honest feedback. Schools should use data and tests. This should help make lessons better.

Learning assessments, comparison tests, and research findings are to be used systematically to improve teaching and school quality and to spot support needs early. Berlin is meant to align more closely with other German states. The core curricula are to be reviewed and focused more on relevance and future needs. According to the program, media literacy and digital skills belong in the curriculum without sidelining core subjects.

The CDU wants to add an active state duty to Berlin's Neutralitätsgesetz (Neutrality Act) to protect students from religious pressure. Religious practices such as fasting during Ramadan should remain voluntary. Teaching should firmly convey the principles of a secular constitutional state.

Berlin has a law about religion and the state. It is called the Neutrality Act. The CDU wants to expand it. Schools should protect kids from religious pressure. For example, no one should be pushed to fast during Ramadan.

Schools are to make sure no social pressure toward religious practices arises. Children's freedom of belief is to be actively protected from religious or peer-group pressure. Curricula should cover secular models of society more, including in countries with Muslim-majority populations.

The CDU wants to recruit and retain more teachers, including by granting them civil-servant status and speeding up hiring. All teachers should in future take part in regular, mandatory professional development.

Berlin needs more teachers. The CDU wants teachers to keep getting civil-servant status. Applicants should get jobs faster. All teachers should take training courses regularly. This should be required.

According to the program, the number of unfilled teaching positions fell from nearly 1,000 in the 2022/2023 school year to 207 in 2025/2026, with civil-servant status cited as a key reason. Career changers are to continue receiving on-the-job qualification, alongside models such as single-subject teachers, tandem teachers, and the Flex-Master. Through the state institute BLiQ, all teachers are to complete systematic training in areas such as language education and digital skills.

The CDU wants schools to have other professionals in addition to teachers. Every school should have enough social workers. This is meant to relieve teachers and free up more time for teaching.

Schools should have more than just teachers. Social workers, psychologists, and other experts should work there too. Every school should have enough social workers. Then teachers have more time to teach.

Under the "100 percent plus X" principle, school social workers, educators, teaching aides, school psychologists, and administrative and IT staff are to support teachers. Collaboration among these professions is to become standard, partly to meet the needs of inclusive schools. The existing state school social work program is to be strengthened.

The CDU wants to continue its school construction program and set up a new central state agency modeled on Hamburg or Oslo. A program for smaller repairs is meant to bring quick improvements. Public-private partnerships are also to help with construction.

Berlin is building many new schools. The CDU wants to keep going. One central state office should manage school building. Small damage should be fixed faster. Private companies should also help build.

According to the program, 41 new schools, 76 gyms, 119 extension buildings, and about 62,000 school places have been created so far, with more than 7 billion euros invested. The new repair program is to be funded from the special infrastructure fund. Schoolyards are to get more greenery, shade, and space for exercise, including art projects. Digital tools such as the cleaning-inspection app "KleanBerlin" are to be expanded.

The CDU wants to relieve schools, districts, and administrators of bureaucracy. Cost-and-performance accounting in the school sector is to be reviewed and simplified or scrapped where it mainly creates extra work.

Schools have a lot of paperwork. The CDU wants less of it. One cost-tracking system should be checked. If it only makes work, it should go. Then there is more time for teaching.

Management tools are to be judged on whether they provide real value. The goal is an efficient school administration that keeps transparency but imposes fewer reporting duties. Time, staff, and money freed up are to go toward education.

The CDU wants every student in grades 7 to 10 to have a digital device by 2030 and all schools to have high-performance networks. School administration processes are to go fully digital, and schools are to get more autonomy.

The CDU wants schools to be more digital. By 2030, all kids in grades 7 to 10 should get a device. For example, a tablet or a laptop. Schools should get more help with tech problems. Enrollment and report cards should also be digital.

A state program for IT support is meant to strengthen technical help at schools so teachers can focus on teaching. Enrollment, transition procedures, report cards, class registers and absence reports are to be handled digitally, and the digital student ID is to be rolled out everywhere. Artificial intelligence is to be used to improve educational opportunities. Teachers are to receive mandatory training in digital skills and media education. Schools are to face less red tape and get more flexible budgets.

Building on the so-called violence barometer, the CDU wants a strategy against violence in schools that combines prevention, intervention and sanctions. Violence, antisemitism, extremism and discrimination are to have no place in schools.

The CDU wants to fight violence at schools. There should be a clear plan for this. The plan should help prevent violence. It should also include punishment for violence. Schools should work more closely with youth services.

In the program's view, the violence barometer provided reliable data on school violence for the first time. The goal is safe schools with clear rules, consistent action and a strong focus on values. Cooperation between schools and youth welfare services and youth social work is to be expanded.

The CDU wants a state program for mental health and more school psychology services, citing growing social and psychological pressure on children and teens. This is complemented by healthy school meals, health prevention and first-aid training.

Many kids are under a lot of pressure today. The CDU wants schools to help them more. There should be more school psychologists. School lunches should be healthy. Kids should also learn first aid.

Prevention, early help and building resilience are to become a regular part of school life. Cooperation with statutory health insurers and programs like "Gute gesunde Schule" (good healthy school) is to be expanded, with exercise, nutrition and mental health offerings at every school. The CDU backs balanced lunches at all Berlin schools. First-aid and CPR training is to be gradually established at all schools together with ADAC, THW, DRK and the Maltese aid service.

The CDU wants to strengthen school sports, keep grades in physical education and introduce citywide school championships. A swimming initiative is to ensure every child leaves elementary school able to swim safely.

The CDU wants more sports at school. Students should still get grades in gym class. There should be school championships for all of Berlin. Every child should learn to swim safely in elementary school.

The CDU backs enough PE hours, modern sports facilities and closer cooperation with sports clubs. In the program's view, athletic performance should be visibly assessed, and talents should be identified early. Active learning phases and breaks are to be built into the school day. Swimming lessons are to be held reliably, supplemented by voluntary programs modeled on the "Neuköllner Schwimmbär."

The CDU wants vocational and academic education to be treated as equal and career guidance to be mandatory at all secondary schools from grade 7. Young people are to learn early about the range of training paths.

Not everyone has to go to college. The CDU wants job training and college to count the same. From grade 7, all students should learn about jobs. There should be more internships and company visits.

Schools are to build permanent partnerships with companies, skilled trades and public employers, with far more internships, project days and hands-on camps. Schools may offer an elective in "economics, skilled trades and financial literacy," and student-run businesses are to be supported. Vocational upper secondary schools (Oberstufenzentren) are to get better equipment and visibility, and a state institute for vocational education is to connect the players. Schools, youth employment agencies and the Federal Employment Agency are to cooperate more closely, with every young person offered a training or job placement.

The CDU wants more civic education at all schools, including mandatory study of democratic institutions and German history. The program sees education as the best prevention against extremism. Media literacy is to be a required part of schooling everywhere.

Students should learn more about democracy. They should visit parliament and memorial sites. They should talk about extremism and antisemitism. They should learn to spot fake news. Europe should also be taught more.

Plans include visits to the Bundestag, the Berlin state parliament, district assemblies and memorials to both German dictatorships. Lessons are to cover all forms of extremism as well as antisemitic and racist ideologies, with the Middle East conflict in the upper secondary curriculum. Europe Day on May 9 is to be a theme day at secondary schools, and exchanges and short-term Erasmus programs are to grow. District children's and youth parliaments are to be better connected, and youth clubs supported as places to counter radicalization.

The CDU wants a mandatory elective area in which students choose between religion and ethics, modeled on Brandenburg. This would give religious and worldview education a fixed place in schools.

The CDU wants more religion in schools. Students should choose religion or ethics. One of the two should be required. Brandenburg already does this.

Religious and worldview education is to become a fixed part of school life. The model is the arrangement in Brandenburg. In addition, a culture of remembrance with eyewitness talks and memorial work is to be supported.

The CDU wants the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) to have a stronger presence in civics classes, school projects and through youth officers. Cooperation with police, fire services and the military is also to grow, with regular "blue-light days" at schools.

The army should come to schools more often. Youth officers should talk about security and jobs. Police and firefighters should also visit schools. There should be special days for this.

According to the program, the aim is to build students' understanding of security policy and give insight into serving the country. Blue-light days are meant to help with career choices, reduce distance from state representatives and show appreciation for these professions. Youth officers are to provide both civic education and career advice.

The CDU sees adult education as the fourth pillar of the education system and wants more support for independent providers plus a state program for permanent funding of basic education. More teachers at Volkshochschulen (community adult education centers) are to be permanently employed.

Learning does not end after school. The CDU wants better education for adults. There should be more money for basic skills. Adult education centers should hire more teachers on a permanent basis.

Project funding for independent providers is to grow, with regular checks on effectiveness. Permanent positions at Volkshochschulen are to be created especially in basic education and language support. The coordination office for out-of-school education is to get more staff and become a quality and advisory center. The Urania is to be secured and examined as a possible national citizens' forum for democracy, and Berlin's foundation financing law is to be updated for municipal political education institutes.

The CDU wants more sports clubs at daycare centers and schools and closer cooperation with sports clubs. Children and young people should learn to enjoy exercise early, and social background should not be a barrier to access.

The CDU wants more sports for children. Daycare centers and schools should offer more sports groups. They should work more closely with sports clubs. Poor children should be able to join too.

Cooperation between schools and clubs is to be made easier and red tape reduced. Sports activities should be available everywhere in the afternoon as well. The "Sport 365" program is to be expanded to offer year-round activities close to home in every district. Programs such as "Profivereine machen Kita" and "Profivereine machen Schule" (pro clubs in daycare and schools) are to be kept and developed further.

The CDU wants every child in Berlin to learn to swim safely, at the latest at school. It sees swimming as part of safety and of equal opportunity.

Every child in Berlin should learn to swim. This should happen at school at the latest. The CDU says swimming saves lives. All children should get the same chance.

Swimming lessons should be more widely available from age three. There should be enough pool space and better organization. The CDU relies on additional swimming instructors, modern teaching methods and better coordination between schools and the pool operators. District swimming centers are to be expanded.