CDU on education

The CDU wants to link universities and research institutes more closely to the city's economic development. Hamburg University of Technology and the University of Hamburg are to grow as innovation hubs, and STEM programs are to receive more funding.

The CDU wants to connect Hamburg's universities more closely with business. More new companies should come out of the universities. Subjects like math, computer science and engineering should get more money. The universities should become more international.

The platform names targeted investment in research, development and education as a precondition for growth through innovation. Start-up creation and research partnerships are to be supported. Higher investment is planned for degree programs in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. The CDU also wants to push the international orientation of the universities.

The CDU wants to move the mandatory language assessment for children forward by one year, to age three and a half. Daycare centers are to receive reliable funding for language support. The platform argues that good German is the precondition for education and integration.

The CDU wants to test children's language earlier. The test should come at age three and a half. Daycare centers should get steady money for language help. In school, learning German should also come first.

The assessment is also to trigger support when it reveals problems in math, motor skills, or social and emotional behavior. Funding for language support and the Kita-Plus 2.0 program is to be dependable, including money for additional staff. In schools, language gaps are to be closed as a priority, temporarily even at the expense of subject lessons.

The CDU rejects gender-inclusive language, which it describes as grammatically incorrect. The official rules of German spelling are to be the binding basis for teaching at all educational institutions in Hamburg.

The CDU does not want gender-inclusive language in schools and daycare. This means spellings like the gender asterisk. The party says they are wrong. The official spelling rules should apply.

The platform names the official rulebook of German spelling as the binding basis for teaching. This is to apply to every educational institution in Hamburg. The party links the demand to its view that solid German is what makes education and integration possible.

The CDU wants to support every child individually from preschool through the end of lower secondary school, based on learning diagnostics, and to review whether the support works. Digital learning systems that adapt to each student's level are to assist.

The CDU wants to check closely what each child can already do. Then each child should get fitting help. Digital learning programs should help. They adapt to the child. Schools should check whether the help works.

The plan includes centrally developed adaptive learning systems and AI-based platforms as support tools. Teachers are to be trained better in diagnosing learning levels, and the quality of support is to be monitored. Daycare, preschool, and elementary school are to work under a shared mandate; daycare centers are to be planned alongside new elementary schools. Separate curricula are planned for all areas of special needs education.

The CDU wants all children to have a firm command of reading, writing, speaking, and arithmetic by the end of elementary school. Binding minimum standards are to apply. Children are to be able to stay in elementary school one year longer if needed.

The CDU wants fixed goals for elementary school. All children should read, write and do math well at the end. Children who need more time may stay one more year. What counts is learning, not how long it takes.

The platform points out that one fifth of children lack sufficient basic skills at the end of elementary school and that children differ by up to three years in development when they start. The standards are meant to ensure children can cope with secondary school. In the party's view, learning success matters more than the length of time spent in elementary school.

The CDU stands by the concept of self-governing schools but holds the education authority responsible for ensuring educational success. School supervision is to be better resourced, and the authority is to take over centrally those tasks that overwhelm individual schools.

Schools should still decide many things themselves. But the authority should help more and check better. It should take on tasks schools cannot manage alone. For example, it should review learning software.

The authority is to review the market for digital learning media and advise schools on it. A substitute teacher pool, teacher training initiatives, diagnostic tools, and digital services are also to be organized centrally. Support from the IT provider Dataport is to become more efficient. Educational institutions are to cooperate on a mandatory basis, and parents are to be invited to the elementary school early and involved through learning progress meetings.

The CDU wants to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in all areas of schooling and to set up more Schwerpunktschulen (schools specializing in inclusion). Parents are to keep the choice between special schools and inclusive mainstream schools. The quality of inclusion is to be monitored more closely.

Children with disabilities should be able to learn well. The CDU wants more schools with a special focus on this. Parents should still be allowed to choose the school. Special schools should get more staff.

Inclusion and special education are to become a fixed part of school inspections because, in the party's view, implementation must improve at some sites. Classroom assistance for children with support needs is to be redesigned. Hub schools are to pool resources and expertise. Because the share of children needing intensive care is growing at special schools, staffing ratios there are to be adjusted. Special schools and mainstream schools are to cooperate in space and content.

The CDU commits to Hamburg's tiered school system and to parental choice between Gymnasium and Stadtteilschule (district school). Within these structures it wants more ability grouping and individual learning time. In the upper grades, advanced and basic courses are to return.

The CDU wants to keep the different school types in Hamburg. Parents should still be able to choose. Children should learn more according to their level. The upper grades should have advanced and basic courses again. Very gifted students should get more support.

The platform speaks of a "breathing system" that gives children more time where they need it. In the party's view, the profile-based upper level does not fit with centralized Abitur exams; returning to a course system is meant to relieve students and be a first step toward a more flexible upper level. Modeled on elite sports schools, top-level support is also to be strengthened in languages, music, art, social sciences, and STEM. Elementary schools are to get more room for ability-grouped split lessons in German and math, and district schools for external ability grouping. Switching class or school type is to be simple when children miss or clearly exceed the grade-level goal.

The CDU wants to digitalize schools quickly but in an age-appropriate way and to integrate artificial intelligence responsibly into teaching. An official strategy and matching teacher training are planned. Traditional and digital learning methods are to exist side by side.

The CDU wants schools to go digital faster. This should fit the children's age. Teachers should learn how to handle artificial intelligence. Children learn some topics with AI and others the usual way. Teachers should not have to take care of the technology.

Equipment is to be up to date, and maintenance of networks and devices is to run without tying up teachers. Central device management is to become mandatory for all schools; purchasing and use of school software are to be more centralized in coordination with schools. Exam formats such as colloquia, discussions, project work, and practical work are to gain weight. Curricula are to take AI into account. In the party's view, AI cannot replace active learning by the student.

To counter the teacher shortage, the CDU wants to create a dual-track teacher training program as an additional path and offer more university and practical training places. Teachers are to be relieved of non-teaching tasks. A pool of mobile substitute staff is to reduce longer periods of canceled lessons.

The CDU wants more teachers for Hamburg. There should be a new way into the job: study and practice at the same time. Helpers should take work off teachers. When teachers are absent, substitute teachers should step in. Fewer lessons should be canceled.

Coaching before and during teacher training studies is meant to cut dropout rates; continuing education is to focus on priorities such as digital skills and be evaluated. Everyday helpers without formal qualifications, administrative staff, and more social workers and therapists are to relieve teachers. The teacher working-time model is to be thoroughly revised and account for team time; schools are to provide workspaces for lesson preparation. According to the platform, only about 80 percent of lessons currently take place as scheduled.

The CDU wants to renovate school restrooms and have them cleaned more often, since students spend more time at school. School meals are to be healthy, regional, and seasonal, and elementary schools in disadvantaged areas are to offer breakfast. In all-day programs, homework is to be reliably completed and checked.

The CDU wants to renovate school restrooms. They should be cleaned more often. School food should be healthy. Some elementary schools should offer breakfast. In the afternoon, children should reliably do their homework.

The platform notes that most Hamburg students rate their school restrooms as poor, putting Hamburg below the national average. School buildings are to offer appealing, modern rooms. In the all-day care program (GBS), practicing reading and basic arithmetic is to become a regular task, especially for children who stay until 3 p.m. Schools and youth services are to coordinate their offerings better, and cooperation with sports clubs and art and music schools is to be expanded.

The CDU wants every school to adopt binding rules on the use of digital devices and to limit use to what is educationally necessary. Smartphones are to be banned in elementary schools as a general rule. Regular student feedback on well-being is also to be introduced.

Every school should have fixed rules for phones and tablets. Phones should be banned in elementary schools. The CDU wants more teaching about good media use. Students should regularly say how they feel at school.

The party wants to expand media education and support initiatives for smartphone-free schools so that schools are not left alone with the negative effects of digitalization. Systematic feedback on satisfaction and well-being is meant to help target school social work and the prevention of violence and bullying. The platform stresses that the school's role in upbringing needs more attention alongside its educational mandate.

The CDU wants to set up a career guidance center and a citywide internship exchange. Curricula are to be reviewed for whether their content is useful for vocational training and university. The aim is fewer university dropouts and more skilled workers.

The CDU wants to help students more with choosing a job. A new center should show which job fits whom. There should be an exchange for internships across Hamburg. Companies should work more with schools. The curricula should be reviewed.

The center is to analyze students' strengths and point to suitable training programs, degree courses, and occupations. Companies, chambers, and universities are to take part in reviewing curricula; STEM is to be the focus because, according to the platform, skills there are too low. Basic skills and core knowledge are to be clearly defined. Creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking are also to be strengthened in schools.

The CDU wants to strengthen dual vocational training, which it sees as a competitive advantage for Germany. Commercial apprenticeships are to become more attractive through models followed by a bachelor's degree. For the skilled trades, production schools, practice-oriented classes, and school workshops are to be supported.

The CDU wants to strengthen job training. After some training programs, a bachelor's degree should be possible. There should be more classes with lots of hands-on work. Schools should get workshops. More young people should start job training.

Practice-oriented classes and production schools are meant to help young people who struggle with purely classroom-based learning at certain stages of life. The party intends to push for workshops in schools. The Jugendberufsagentur (youth employment agency) and programs that prepare young people for training are to be strengthened so that more of them start an apprenticeship.

The CDU wants Hamburg's universities to allow open, democratic exchange of views and to keep violence, extremism, and antisemitism off campus. A central contact point for people affected by antisemitism is to be set up at the University of Hamburg.

The CDU wants safe universities. Everyone should be able to speak openly there. Violence and hatred of Jews should have no place there. People who face hatred of Jews should get help at the University of Hamburg.

According to the platform, universities should keep violence, extremism, and antisemitism out of lecture halls and off campus. What should count is the exchange of arguments, not what the CDU calls self-proclaimed moral superiority. The rules of the Council for German Orthography are to apply at all universities as well. The contact point for people affected by antisemitism is to be created together with the University of Hamburg.

The CDU wants to give public universities more and more reliable funding and to give their executive boards more freedom to decide. Private universities are to be more involved and linked with public ones.

The CDU wants to give universities more money. The money should come reliably. University leaders should decide more on their own. Private and public universities should work together more.

The platform argues that universities and state research funding have suffered from fluctuating budgets for more than ten years. Promised extra funds, for example for TU Hamburg, are to be paid in full. Executive boards should be freer to set up cross-faculty structures such as so-called schools and to organize cooperation between the University of Hamburg, TU Hamburg, and HAW Hamburg. Private universities are to be included in projects, brought into networks with public ones, and supported in their long-term development.

The CDU wants to create a Hamburg science foundation with at least 500 million euros in capital and to expand state research funding. The foundation is meant to make science less dependent on short-term budget cuts.

The CDU wants to start a foundation for science. It should get at least 500 million euros. This should give research steady money. Private donors should join in too.

According to the platform, the capital equals about 0.3 percent of Hamburg's economic output. The CDU points to other German states that use foundations to fund basic research, top-level appointments, and young researchers. The foundation is to supplement core funding over the long term. The CDU also wants to win additional donors and sponsors.

The CDU wants to repair university buildings according to a priority plan and create a dedicated construction body for new ones. It also wants to fund a shared IT security concept for universities and to lobby for federal money for the PETRA IV research project at DESY.

Many university buildings are in bad shape. The CDU wants to fix them step by step. A special body should build new university buildings. Computer systems should become safer. The CDU wants to ask the federal government for money for the PETRA IV research machine.

The existing survey of buildings is to become the basis of a repair plan, in consultation with the universities. Funding for promised new buildings in Science City Bahrenfeld, in Harburg, and for HAW Hamburg is to be secured. The specialized construction body is meant to build up expertise on the particular needs of university buildings. For the IT and security concept being drafted after the hacker attack on HAW Hamburg, the CDU wants to provide lasting funds and work more closely with federal bodies. The platform calls PETRA IV essential for the development of DESY.

The CDU sees a new building for the State and University Library (SUB) as advisable because, in its view, the current one has been decaying for years. It wants to examine whether the library, a "House of Technology," and rooms for the Academy of Sciences could be built together.

The big university library is in bad shape. The CDU thinks a new building makes sense. It wants to check if three institutions can share new buildings. These are the library, a House of Technology, and the Academy of Sciences.

According to the platform, renovation was due back in the 1980s and no plan exists so far. The part of the building now under heritage protection could remain in use for certain tasks. The review of a shared building complex is to be open-ended. The CDU expects an architectural landmark and shared spaces, for example for lectures and seminars.

The CDU wants more support for students because of Hamburg's high cost of living. It calls for a big-city supplement to BAföG (federal student aid), a stable price for students' Deutschland-Ticket, more dorm places, and better counseling for mental strain.

Life in Hamburg is expensive. So the CDU wants to help students more. They should get extra student aid. The transit ticket should not cost more. There should be more cheap places to live. Help with mental health problems should get better too.

The BAföG application is to become simpler and fully digital. The CDU wants to keep the Deutschland-Ticket price stable for Hamburg students because increases are looming. The expansion of student housing is to be sped up, since the CDU says the current program is moving too slowly. Proven offers such as CamPuls at HAW Hamburg are to be made permanent, and the counseling network at universities is to be developed further.

The CDU wants to launch a program that brings students from abroad to Hamburg for future-oriented science and technology subjects. The background is that, according to the platform, the number of first-year students is set to fall.

The CDU wants more students from abroad to come to Hamburg. This is about subjects like math, computer science, science, and technology. A program should help them in the first year. For example with visas, housing, and language classes.

The platform points to demographic trends and already weakening demand for study places. A lack of dorm places and red tape have so far made it hard for universities to attract students from abroad. The planned program is to help in the first year with visas, housing, integration, and language courses.

The CDU wants to give early-career researchers and student employees more reliable prospects. It considers fixed-term contracts sensible in principle but criticizes the widespread use of very short contract terms.

Many researchers only have very short work contracts. The CDU wants to give them clearer prospects. This also applies to students who work at the university. Hamburg should become more attractive for good researchers from around the world.

In the CDU's view, fixed-term posts are needed to let many young people complete a doctorate or habilitation, and they follow from agreed project periods. Because of tight budgets, however, a practice of very short contracts has developed at almost every academic level. In the global competition for researchers, Hamburg is to get more flexibility in how professorships and other positions are equipped.