CDU on education

The CDU wants to raise the standing of vocational training and the skilled trades and put them on an equal footing with academic education. Training, master craftsman qualifications and career changes are to be supported to secure skilled workers for companies.

The CDU wants to strengthen job training. An apprenticeship should count as much as a college degree. The state supports the master craftsman title. Students should get to know companies early. The state also recruits skilled workers from abroad.

The plan calls for good conditions at all vocational school locations and permanent funding for inter-company training in the skilled trades. Recognized partial qualifications are to make career entry, advancement and switching easier, also in view of AI and Industry 4.0. All school types are to offer early career orientation, along with funded internships and information on vacation jobs. Master craftsman qualifications and programs to attract skilled workers are funded. The CDU also wants to recruit skilled workers internationally.

The CDU wants to keep the tiered school system and merge Sekundarschulen and Gemeinschaftsschulen (comprehensive-style community schools) into a new Oberschule. This school type is meant to stand as a practice-oriented equal alongside the Gymnasium.

The CDU wants to keep different types of schools. Two school types will become one new type called Oberschule. The Oberschule mainly prepares students for job training. The Gymnasium prepares students for university. Both school types should count the same.

The platform argues that separate learning tracks support children according to their abilities and put more emphasis on achievement. Gymnasien are to prepare students for university, Oberschulen for practical work and vocational training. The new Oberschule is to take up the strengths of both former school types and allow differentiation in content and organization. Basic computer science, basic economics, core skills and social behavior are to be priorities there. The CDU also commits to independent schools and wants compulsory schooling to be strictly enforced.

The CDU wants to keep school locations in rural areas and realign school development planning to that end. Schools are also to get more room to make their own decisions, and afternoon programs are to be expanded.

The CDU wants to keep schools in the countryside. Schools should be able to team up to do this. Schools should decide more things themselves. There should be more afternoon activities for children.

Models such as school networks and campus schools are meant to keep education close to where people live. Schools are to receive flexible budgets and be able to hire substitute and support staff on fixed-term contracts. Support systems for teaching and administration are to grow so that teachers have more time for lessons. Afternoon programs in music, creative work, physical activity and learning support are to be strengthened at schools and after-school centers, especially for primary school children. The aim is equal access to support regardless of family situation or mobility.

The CDU wants a mandatory language assessment for all children before they start school, with targeted support in the preschool year. Children should have a command of German when they enter first grade. Primary schools are to offer more instruction in German and math.

The CDU wants a language test before school starts. All children must take the test. Children with weak German get help in the year before school. Primary schools should teach more German and math.

The platform sums up the plan with the formula that the German language comes first and first grade second. The support is to apply to children with and without a migration background and cover development as well as language. The platform sees primary school as the foundation of educational success, so core skills are to be strengthened. Daycare centers, primary schools and after-school centers are to work closely together, in part to ease the burden on parents.

The CDU wants to bring all areas of education, from daycare to research, together in a single ministry. This is meant to create clear responsibility and better coordination across the education system.

The CDU wants one ministry for all education. It would handle daycare, school, job training, university and research. This should make clear who is responsible. The different areas should work together better.

The platform justifies the merger by saying education does not end with a school diploma but accompanies people throughout life. It should therefore be approached as a whole. Under the heading of education from a single source, early childhood education, schools, vocational training, higher education and research are to sit under one roof.

The CDU wants to revise the curricula of all school types and cut content it considers of little practical or future relevance. Topics such as finance, economics, career orientation and digitalization are to get more room instead.

The CDU wants to change what schools teach. Some old content should be dropped. Students should learn more about money, the economy, jobs and technology. Primary schools should offer more crafts and school gardening.

Curricula are to be geared more closely to working life and everyday reality. The platform names financial education, politics, economics, career orientation, digitalization, technical understanding and everyday skills. In primary schools, practical skills, crafts and school gardening are to be strengthened. The state's school diplomas are to remain recognized nationwide.

The CDU wants a fixed practical day each week in grades 7 to 9 at Oberschulen and comprehensive schools as well as suitable special-needs schools. Four days of classroom teaching would be paired with one day in companies or on digital learning tasks.

The CDU wants a new model for grades 7 to 9. Students have four days of lessons at school. On the fifth day they learn in a company. Or they work on tasks on a computer. This applies to Oberschulen and comprehensive schools.

On the practical day, students are to learn in businesses or work on prepared tasks through a statewide uniform digital learning system. Phases of independent study are to be introduced step by step in all school types to build self-organization. The programs „Produktives Lernen“ (productive learning) and „Praxislerntage“ (practical learning days) are to be expanded across the state. The platform says the practical day links school and working life and helps secure skilled workers.

The CDU wants to bring artificial intelligence into classrooms as a learning tool and strengthen the media literacy of students and teachers. The platform regards responsible use of digital technology as a main task of schools.

The CDU wants to use artificial intelligence in class. Artificial intelligence is called AI for short. Students should learn to use digital media well and critically. Teachers should learn this in their training. Each school decides its own rules for phones.

Projects such as „Lernwelt Sachsen-Anhalt“ and practice-oriented lessons are meant to prepare students for working life and encourage critical thinking about digital media. Digital assistants at schools are to give more support to digitally assisted teaching. Ethical questions are to be addressed when AI is used. Media literacy is to become mandatory in teacher training and be part of continuing education. Schools must set out in their school rules how far electronic devices may be used.

The CDU wants to give schools in socially difficult areas more staff, more support programs and better equipment. School social work is to be kept where possible, and school psychology services are to be secured.

The CDU wants to help schools in difficult neighborhoods more. These schools should get more staff and better equipment. School social work should stay where possible. Counties and cities decide where social workers work. Students should also get psychological help.

The platform argues that educational fairness is decided where starting conditions are hardest. School social work is to continue together with youth welfare providers, follow clear goals and be evaluated regularly. Additional resources are to go first to schools with particular needs. Counties and independent cities alone are to decide on the specific deployment of social workers. School psychology counseling is to be available across the state.

The CDU wants to keep Förderschulen (special-needs schools) and let parents choose between inclusive schooling and a special-needs school. Children with an identified need for support should be able to attend a Förderschule for learning difficulties from first grade.

The CDU wants to keep special-needs schools. Parents should be able to choose the right school for their child. Children who need extra support can go there from first grade. They should be able to earn a basic school diploma there in grade 10.

The platform promises good conditions for inclusive education along with suitable support for every child. At Förderschulen for learning difficulties, students are to be able to earn the Hauptschulabschluss (basic secondary diploma) in grade 10. The offer is to be designed so that the move to vocational schools works.

The CDU wants to make career orientation in schools more binding and keep the structure of vocational schools. Vocational and academic education are to be treated as equal, for example through a provision in the state constitution.

The CDU wants students to get to know jobs early. Internships should become mandatory. Vocational schools should stay and be easy to reach. Job training and university should count the same. This should be written in the state constitution.

All Oberschulen are to follow a certified career orientation program. Monitoring is meant to improve the transition into training, and schools are to cooperate more closely with companies and chambers. Entrepreneurial thinking is to be presented positively, for example in the compulsory subject of economics at the Gymnasium. For trainees, the platform provides for reliable transport, accommodation and relief, especially in rural regions. The aim is to bring young people into work faster and make vocational training more attractive.

The CDU commits to the principle of achievement in schools and wants to keep grades, grade promotion and final exams. At the same time, schools are to be evaluated more intensively, both internally and externally.

The CDU wants to keep grades in schools. Repeating a year and final exams should also stay. The same standards should apply to all schools. The work of schools should be checked regularly.

Uniform standards, transparent performance assessments and honest feedback are to form the basis of schooling. Centralized exams are to keep results comparable. School development is to rely more on data. The platform wants to combine a focus on achievement with equal opportunity.

The CDU wants to reform teacher training: the degree for Sekundarschule teachers is to become a dual work-study program in the long run, and the Referendariat (practical training phase) is to include more hands-on work. Trainee teachers who commit to rural areas are to get a bonus.

The CDU wants to change how teachers are trained. Students should work in schools early on. This is called a dual program. People who later teach in the countryside should get more money during training. Universities should be judged by how many teachers graduate.

The dual pilot program for Sekundarschule teaching is to be made permanent and, where possible, the standard; an extension to primary and special-needs schools is under review. Target agreements with universities are to be based on the number of graduates instead of first-year students. The CDU will examine incentives, obligations or selection procedures to address shortages in certain subjects and school types, as well as primary teacher training in Magdeburg. Trainees outside the major urban centers are to receive a bonus if they then teach there; the „Weltenretter-Stipendium“ scholarship continues. Career changers are to get clear training paths, and the two state exams remain.

The CDU wants to present a childcare plan that responds to falling birth rates, secures funding and improves the staff-to-child ratio. Daycare close to home, family daycare and a variety of providers are to be preserved. Childcare workers are to have fewer documentation duties.

There are fewer children in Saxony-Anhalt. The CDU wants to make a plan for daycare centers. There should be more staff per child. Daycare centers close to home should stay. Childcare workers should have less paperwork.

A roundtable with all stakeholders is to develop proposals on funding, recruitment and structures. Smaller facilities are to stay viable through flexible models, cooperation and mergers. Family daycare providers are to be paid fairly, and parents keep their right to choose the form of care. Further plans include implementing the legal entitlement to all-day care from 2026, clearer support structures for children with disabilities, healthy meals, motor skills checks and age-appropriate media education. The state is to fund the expansion and renovation of daycare centers, especially in rural areas, and enable flexible opening hours.

The CDU wants to promote digital education in all areas of education and support schools with digital tools. A central learning platform would be open to children, students and adults.

The CDU wants everyone to handle digital technology better. There will be one central learning platform online. Children, students and adults can use it. Older people will get offers too. They learn about media, data protection and online safety.

The learning platform is meant for digital training and continuing education and, according to the platform, could also offer safe, age-appropriate learning games. In addition, the CDU plans information and education programs on media, data protection and cybersecurity skills for all age groups. It pays particular attention to people who did not grow up with digital technology.

The CDU wants to keep denominational religious education as a compulsory school subject with two lessons a week. Religious and worldview education is also to be anchored in nurseries, kindergartens and after-school care.

The CDU wants to keep religion classes at school. They should take two lessons a week. Children in nurseries, kindergartens and after-school care should also learn about religion.

According to the program, religious education serves to teach values, give orientation and develop personality. It is meant to help young people think critically about religion and respect other convictions. Education in nurseries, kindergartens and after-school care is to follow the state's education plan. Children are to learn there, in an age-appropriate way, what religion is and how it has shaped society.

The CDU wants to focus funding on research fields that promise top-level results or matter especially for Saxony-Anhalt. Universities and research institutes are to work more closely with companies so that ideas turn into products, start-ups, and jobs faster.

The CDU wants to fund research in a targeted way. Money should go mainly to fields that matter for Saxony-Anhalt. Universities and companies should work together more. That way, ideas should become products and jobs faster.

Freedom of research and teaching is to be preserved in principle. The chain from basic research to commercial use is to be developed as a coherent whole, including university training geared to what businesses need. The program calls for expanding innovation centers (clusters), coordinated excellence funding, and support for start-ups and maker spaces. Research is to be measured more against internationally recognized performance criteria, backed by target agreements and regular evaluations. Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are to be built into all areas of the universities.

The CDU wants to charge tuition fees to foreign students from countries outside the EU. The revenue is meant to help fund the state's universities.

The CDU wants to bring in fees for studying. Students from countries outside the EU would pay them. The money should help the universities in the state.

The fees are to be coordinated with the neighboring states in central Germany. They are part of the goal of funding science adequately and reliably. Funding is to rest on target agreements with strategic priorities, performance-based funding tools, and evaluations.

The CDU wants to give selected degree programs an international focus in order to attract skilled workers to the state. International students are to form ties to the region during their studies and then move easily into the regional job market.

The CDU wants to attract more students from abroad. They should work in Saxony-Anhalt after they graduate. The universities should help them settle in. Moving between job training and university should also get easier.

Universities are to set up tools for retention and integration so that professional, social, and local ties to the state form early. The CDU also wants to make it easier to move between vocational training, higher education, and continuing education, to support lifelong learning and secure skilled workers. Preparation for STEM degree programs is to begin in school and be backed by partnerships with universities.

The CDU wants to simplify the bureaucracy around research funding and speed up decisions. Spin-offs from universities and research institutes are to be possible within 24 hours using standard contracts.

The CDU wants less red tape in research. Decisions on funding should come faster. Researchers should be able to start a company out of a university in 24 hours. Standard contracts should make that possible.

The plan follows the idea of a future Innovationsfreiheitsgesetz (innovation freedom act). Project funds are to be used more flexibly and oversight made leaner overall. Data are to be easier to use for research. The CDU also backs more flexible rules for nonprofit research institutes and the Wissenschaftsfreiheitsgesetz (academic freedom act). The state is to continue an innovation-friendly policy that weighs risks but above all makes use of the opportunities of new technologies.