Grüne on education

The Greens want to tackle the staff shortage in Hamburg's daycare centers (Kitas) with a hiring drive. Trainees would be paid during their training, and training capacity would grow. In the short term, current staff would be relieved of tasks outside group work.

Hamburg's daycare centers do not have enough staff. The Greens want to hire more people. People who train for the job should get paid. There should be more training places. Today's staff should have fewer side tasks.

In the short term, staff would be relieved of duties outside group work, and daycare centers would get help, together with accident insurers and health insurers, in identifying and reducing sources of strain. In the medium term the party wants heavy investment in training: more places at public vocational schools and universities, pay during training, stronger on-the-job qualification and support for career changers. Foreign qualifications would be recognized faster, recruits from abroad would get language courses, and the share of staff with academic degrees would rise. The steps would be worked out in an 'Alliance for good education and reliable care' with providers, parents, staff and unions.

The Greens want to give extra resources to daycare centers with many children who need additional support. The model is the social index (Kess factors) Hamburg uses to fund schools. The program frames good early education as a matter of social justice.

Some daycare centers have many children who need more help. These centers should get more money and staff. Schools already have such a rule. The Greens want it for daycare centers too.

The quality of daycare would be expanded according to need. Support for children with disabilities or at risk of disability, from disadvantaged backgrounds or needing language support would be broadened and simplified. To do this, an allocation system modeled on the Kess factors would direct more resources to individual locations with greater needs.

The Greens want to move the mandatory pre-school assessment a year earlier, to age three and a half. Children who need it would receive mandatory language support so that all start school with equal chances. Multilingualism would also be fostered from an early age.

Today children must come for a check at four and a half. The Greens want this at three and a half. Then people see earlier which child needs help. Language support would then be required. Children with several languages should get support too.

The program argues that the third year of life is decisive for language development. The earlier assessment would be paired with tailored support. Multilingualism would be anchored in the education system, including daycare centers. Training requirements for language-support staff would be defined along the lines of the existing add-on qualification in special-needs education and built into regular training.

The Greens want all schools with social index 1 and 2 to receive additional resources. To that end, the federal-state Startchancen program and Hamburg's 'D23+ Starke Schulen' program would be expanded. The share of children lacking basic skills in reading, writing and math is supposed to fall markedly.

Many children cannot read, write or do math well. The Greens want to change that. Schools with many poor children should get more money. No school in the program should get less than before.

The program notes that around 20 percent of children cannot read, write or do math properly at the end of elementary school and wants to start a turnaround in the coming legislative term. The extra funds are to go into good teaching and career guidance. No school taking part in 'D23+' would be worse off after the redesign; state money would top up the federal program where needed. An evaluation is planned after two years.

The Greens want to link morning and afternoon learning more closely at all-day schools. Offers in sports, culture and democracy projects would allow individual support, also together with local clubs. Career guidance within the all-day program would be expanded as well.

All schools in Hamburg are all-day schools. The Greens want to connect mornings and afternoons better. There should be offers for sports, culture and democracy. Clubs should take part. Students should also learn more about jobs.

The party sees potential for greater educational equity in all-day schooling. Motivating offers are meant to build personality and self-esteem, and Hamburg's clubs would be more involved. For career guidance the program names practice-oriented classes, closer cooperation with business and practical vocational modules.

The Greens want to continue the school structure agreed in the 'Schulfrieden' (school peace accord), with Stadtteilschulen (comprehensive district schools) and Gymnasien. Schools should focus on teaching quality rather than structural debates. The party does not see simply lengthening the Gymnasium years as a solution.

Hamburg has district schools and Gymnasium schools. The Greens want to keep it that way. Schools should focus on good teaching. The party does not want to argue about new school types.

The 'Schulfrieden' is a cross-party Hamburg agreement on school structure. The program takes up concerns about dense curricula and overload, especially at Gymnasien. Instead of a longer Gymnasium track, it sees a need to change the learning culture regardless of school type.

The Greens want to reduce the amount of content in school curricula. Creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication would instead become the guiding model for teaching. The party puts particular weight on students' judgment in a digital world.

Students have to learn a lot of content today. The Greens want less content. Instead, children should be creative and work in teams. They should think critically and communicate well. They should be able to judge information online.

The reduction is to respect existing agreements of the Kultusministerkonferenz (the conference of state education ministers). The program justifies it with social change, which it says demands cross-subject skills and values. The party also includes implementing the Masterplan BNE 2030, Hamburg's plan for education for sustainable development.

The Greens want to enable cross-subject teaching, project learning periods and fixed self-study time in schools. Students would learn at their own pace, guided by teachers. Room, time and group structures would become more flexible for this.

Children learn at different speeds. The Greens want fixed self-study time in the timetable. There, each child learns at their own pace. Teachers help and advise. There should also be more projects across several subjects.

Project periods are meant to allow deeper learning over longer stretches and replace frequent switching between subjects. The program cites pilot projects with 'Deeper Learning' in other states and practice at vocational schools as inspiration. Study periods or learning offices would be scheduled systematically in lower secondary school and the pre-upper-secondary year so students can work on their own gaps or interests.

The Greens want tests and exams to be taken at different times, especially in elementary school and grades 5 and 6. Retakes and repeat assessments should be possible. Alternative exam formats are to be kept.

Today all children in a class take a test on the same day. The Greens want to loosen that. Children should be able to take tests at different times. They should be able to fix mistakes and retake exams.

The party argues that learning is individual and that purely written exams often fail to show all skills. It points out that, with an alliance, it prevented the school authority's planned removal of alternative exam formats. The program sees a strong feedback culture as a precondition. In the profile-based upper secondary level, schools would be encouraged to innovate more in what they offer.

The Greens want more flexible paths for students who reach the Abitur (university entrance diploma) faster or more slowly. Plans include a pilot for an eight-year track at Stadtteilschulen, a review of a three-year final stage, and a pilot concept for an upper level built from elective course modules.

Some students need less time to finish school, others need more. The Greens want to allow both. District schools should test an 8-year path. The last 2 years could also take 3 years. Students should choose courses more freely.

The pilot would let individual students at Stadtteilschulen reach the Abitur in eight years through extra lessons in core subjects in grades 7 to 9/10, following Bremen's example. With a stretched final stage, course results earned each year would have to count toward the Abitur. Modularization would replace fixed lessons with course selection as at universities. The pilot concept would be developed together with schools, chambers and associations.

The Greens support campus schools that offer both an eight-year and a nine-year route to the Abitur under one roof. The concept is to be developed so that new teaching approaches emerge which other schools can also adopt.

A campus school has two paths to the final diploma. One takes 8 years, one takes 9 years. Both share one head and one team of teachers. The Greens like this. Other schools should learn from the ideas.

The focus is on project-based and highly individualized forms of learning and on learning at one's own pace. Both locations where Stadtteilschulen and Gymnasien have long cooperated and newly founded schools would be involved in the development. Well-prepared practical examples would be made available to all schools.

The Greens want to build up staff for inclusive schools. Teacher training programs would get a mandatory special-education component, and schools would receive a permanent pool of school aides. Help with learning difficulties would also be available without a diagnosis.

Children with disabilities may attend a regular school. Often there is not enough staff. The Greens want more experts. All future teachers should learn special education. Schools should have permanent aides. Children should get help even without a diagnosis.

The mandatory special-education component would apply to teacher training for elementary schools, general secondary schools and vocational education. School aides would get permanent contracts under collective agreements and could be integrated into the school's teaching work. A system-wide funding allocation is meant to ensure children get support without red tape. The program cites the agreement with the 'Gute Inklusion' initiative as a first step.

The Greens want civic education to be a fixed part of school life from primary school onward. The platform justifies this with the spread of extremism and the influence of platforms such as TikTok, X and Telegram.

The Greens want more civic education in schools. It should start in primary school. Children should learn how democracy works. The party says this matters because of social media.

Civic education projects, for example with the state agency for civic education, the state parliament and the district assemblies, are to be expanded and made a regular feature at schools. Primary schools could use project weeks for this. When curricula are evaluated, the Greens want to examine how the subject politics/society/economics can be strengthened, especially in the upper grades. The platform regards civic education as a duty the state owes its citizens.

The Greens want to give students more say in how they learn and how school life is organized. A guideline is to be drawn up together with Hamburg's student council body, the Schüler*innenkammer.

Students should have more say at school. The Greens want to write a guideline for this. The student council body should help write it. This way young people experience democracy themselves.

The platform calls the Schüler*innenkammer Hamburg (SKH) a partner in education policy and wants to strengthen it. Students are to be more involved in learning and in shaping school life. The reasoning given is that early participation lets young people feel they can make a difference and fosters an understanding of democracy.

The Greens want to keep funding exchange programs and make them easier to access, especially for young people from poorer families. Schools should also teach the significance of the EU and global learning.

The Greens want to support exchange with other countries. Young people with little money should be able to take part too. They should get money for it. Schools should explain why the EU matters.

Funding for exchange programs is to be kept so that they are not open only to children from academic households. Information on the programs is to be pooled. A pilot project with international coordinators at schools with social index 1 and 2 is to be evaluated and made permanent. Schools are to be supported in joining Erasmus+, and students from less well-off backgrounds are to receive financial help.

The Greens want children to reflect regularly on their use of phones, social media and online games as early as primary school. The platform points to dangers such as fake news, sexualized violence and addiction.

Children use phones and the internet early. There are dangers there too. The Greens want primary schools to talk about this. Teachers should get better training for it.

The platform treats media education as a task for all teachers that should already be part of their training. Training for primary school teachers is to be adjusted accordingly and backed by targeted continuing education. The platform also calls for close cooperation with parents.

The Greens want to give schools more room to shape their work and develop their own profile rather than steering them centrally. The platform argues this creates responsibility and quality; where quality falls short, the freedom is to end.

Schools should decide more for themselves. The authority should set goals but regulate fewer details. Each school should have its own profile. Quality should still be checked.

The target and performance agreements between the education authority and schools are to be recalibrated. An innovation fund would give schools that apply temporary extra resources and professional support for school development. The platform plans more time for teamwork, more flexibility in the timetable within KMK rules, and school choice that is partly based on profile and interest. New tasks are to come with resources, and a task review is to determine what can be dropped in return. Quality management based on educational research is to accompany the new freedoms.

The Greens want to modernize and further expand schools, including existing buildings. Schools are to be planned as places for the whole neighborhood, and school grounds are to be designed close to nature.

The Greens want to build new schools and modernize old ones. Schoolyards should become greener. Sports clubs and neighbors should be able to use the schools too. Schools should get more help with planning.

The 2019 school development plan is to be developed further and carried out. Needs are to be identified together with schools and other users of rooms and gyms; for sports areas, the neighborhood's needs should count too. According to the platform, nature-oriented school grounds allow contact with nature, absorb heavy rain, provide cooling and increase biodiversity. Building projects are to get longer lead times, more transparency and expert support in the early planning phase.

The Greens want to counter the teacher shortage with more university places, fewer dropouts and new routes into the profession. Career-changer pathways are also to be tested.

Hamburg needs more teachers. The Greens want to create more university places. Fewer people should drop out of their studies. People from other jobs should also be able to become teachers.

Teacher training programs are to get additional admission routes besides the numerus clausus grade cutoff. Pilot projects for career changers, such as the one-subject teacher, are to be tested, evaluated and extended to more subjects if successful. The practical training phase is to get more places and be reviewed for scope, intensity and content. Counseling and support are meant to lower dropout rates. The nursing education degree is seen as a possible model for teacher training in other vocational fields.

The Greens want to free teachers from administrative and IT tasks and systematically record their workload. The aim is for staff to stay motivated and healthy in the job for a long time.

Many teachers have too much work. The Greens want more office staff at schools. Experts should take care of the computers. Teachers should get regular counseling.

The regulation on teachers' working hours is to be reviewed, along with working conditions and pay. Part-time work caused by overload is to become less common. Regular supervision sessions are planned, as is removing barriers that keep teachers from seeking help when ill or under strain. Administrative positions at schools are to be expanded and made more attractive; pay grades and funding are to be discussed with school heads. School buildings are to include rest, common and work rooms for staff.

The Greens want all young people to leave school ready for vocational training and able to make a well-founded career choice. Career guidance is to become more practice-oriented, including at Gymnasium schools.

Young people should be well prepared for training after school. The Greens want to give more insight into companies. Trainees should talk about their work in schools. This should happen at Gymnasium schools too.

According to the platform, about 45 percent of young people first enter a pre-training program after school; that share is to drop markedly. A revised learning culture is meant to build skills such as motivation, willingness to learn and handling conflict. Internships, company visits and talks by company and union representatives are to feed into career guidance classes. The orientation managers at the Chamber of Commerce are to be strengthened, and trainee ambassadors are to visit schools more often. Campaigns and guidance offers are to be continued and expanded.

The Greens want to introduce a guaranteed vocational training place for all young people soon. A levy is meant to support small and medium-sized companies in particular in offering training.

Every young person should get a training place. The Greens want to guarantee this. Companies should pay into a shared fund for it. The money should mainly help small companies train people.

The platform names providing a training place for every young person as a central goal. The levy-based funding is meant to help small and medium-sized businesses offer high-quality training. According to the party, this would considerably improve the training market for young people.

The Greens want to strengthen vocational training as an equal alternative to university. Training fees are to fall, pay in school-based shortage occupations is to be examined, and master craftsman training is to get more support.

Vocational training should become more attractive. The Greens want to lower fees for training. People who become master craftsmen should get more money. Training should be as good an option as university.

For purely school-based training in shortage occupations such as health, social education and nursing, the party wants to examine and support trainee pay. More training programs are to be combinable with advanced qualifications such as Fachwirt or Meister. The master craftsman bonus is to rise and work alongside the Meister-BAföG (federal aid for advanced training). Trainees should be able to bring in their own interests, for example by learning additional foreign languages.

The Greens want to give young people closer support when moving from school to work and to reduce training dropouts. Production schools for young people with high support needs are to be strengthened.

No young person should be left without help after school. Trainees should know their rights and be able to report problems early. There should be more counseling and mentoring. Special schools for young people with big problems should get more support.

Schools, chambers, guilds, companies and universities are to work together more closely. Trainees are to be informed about their rights and alternatives and be able to report problems without barriers. Companies are to be trained, and counseling, coaching and mentoring programs expanded. The platform points to existing aid such as the youth employment agency, joint training schemes and individual support. Access to production schools is to become easier and their funding reviewed so they can plan reliably.

The Greens want to open up and better coordinate courses in reading, writing, math and digital skills for adults of any age. A regional strategy is to be developed for this.

Many adults cannot read and write well. The Greens want to offer more courses for this. One office should organize all the offers in Hamburg. There should be a shared plan for it.

The platform estimates that about 145,000 people between 18 and 65 in Hamburg are affected. According to the party, existing offers do not meet demand and lack a common structure. The coordination office already set up is to pool offers, develop training, advise those affected and do public outreach. Financial education is also to be part of what is offered.

The Greens want to make education and training possible at every age. Older people are to get free tablet and smartphone courses, and the city's digital services are always to have an in-person service point.

The Greens want people to be able to learn all their lives. Older people get free courses for phones and tablets. The city should stay reachable without the internet too.

In the platform's view, dividing life into training, work and retirement is outdated. Companies are to get support when they retrain or upskill employees who can no longer do physically demanding work. The free courses of the "digital dabei" project with digital mentors are to continue. In addition, the city's digital platforms are to be checked for accessibility.

The Greens want every child to learn to swim safely during elementary school. To that end, children up to age ten are to get free admission to the pools run by Bäderland. Mandatory swimming lessons are to be moved up to the first two grades.

Every child should learn to swim safely in elementary school. Children up to age 10 should not pay for the pool. Swimming lessons should start in grades 1 and 2. Right now they take place in grades 3 and 4.

Under the DLRG (German Life Saving Association) definition cited in the platform, a safe swimmer is someone who holds the bronze youth swimming badge. Usable water areas are to grow, and clubs are to get help with energy-efficiency renovation of their own pools to lower operating costs. Admission prices at public pools are to remain affordable. Free admission is meant to get children used to water early, regardless of their parents' income. At public elementary schools, mandatory swimming lessons are to move from grades 3 and 4 to grades 1 and 2.

The Greens want to maintain and increase investment in science and research. Public universities are to receive growing core funding from 2027 under new Zukunftsverträge (funding agreements), and more than 6 billion euros would go into university buildings over two decades.

The Greens want to spend more money on universities and research. From 2027 there will be new agreements with the universities. Their basic funding should keep rising. More than 6 billion euros are planned for buildings over 20 years.

The money is meant for universities and non-university research, teaching, construction and infrastructure. For new buildings and renovations, the Greens rely on high sustainability standards and, where possible, modular construction. Teaching is also to be improved, for example through artificial intelligence with a legal framework, accessibility and family-friendly universities. Universities should also attract more international students, including through more English-language degree programs.

The Greens reject tuition fees and want subsidies for the Studierendenwerk (student services organization) to rise with inflation. At the federal level they push for a reform of BAföG (student aid), and 2,000 new dorm places are to be created in Hamburg by 2030.

Going to university should not depend on parents' money. The Greens do not want tuition fees. More students should get BAföG, the state student aid. By 2030 there should be 2,000 new dorm places.

The BAföG reform would widen eligibility, for example through higher age limits, and add emergency mechanisms. The housing allowance should depend on location because, according to the platform, it does not cover a shared-apartment room in Hamburg. KfW education loans should carry a fixed 1 percent interest rate with no collateral. Mentoring programs for students from non-academic families are to get more support. A psychotherapy outpatient clinic for students is to be set up at the UKE, and the Deutschlandticket as a semester ticket should continue.

The Greens want to safeguard the conditions for free science and keep universities as places of open debate. At the same time, universities are to set up safeguards against antisemitism, racism and other forms of discrimination.

Researchers should decide freely what they study. The Greens want to protect this freedom. People should be able to discuss disputed topics at universities. There should also be protection against hatred of Jews and racism.

The platform describes academic freedom, anchored in the Basic Law, as the foundation of the science system and of democratic society. It guarantees researchers independence in choosing topics and methods. Controversial subjects should also have a place at universities. For effective protection against discrimination, the platform considers strong participatory structures within universities necessary.

The Greens want to support each of the city's universities in its areas of strength. The University of Hamburg is to receive additional funds for its excellence status, and the university hospital UKE would get continued backing for research, teaching and construction.

The Greens want to strengthen each of Hamburg's universities. The University of Hamburg should stay top-ranked and get more money. The university hospital UKE should also keep growing. More people should be able to study nursing at one university.

The TUHH is to be supported in combining top research with solutions to societal challenges. The HAW would get help with its new right to award doctorates, a health campus in Oberbillwerder and more nursing degree programs. The art and music universities are to be supported in artistic research and in expanding their space. At the UKE, psychiatry facilities among others are to be rebuilt, and at the federal level the Greens want adequate hospital financing for university medicine. The State and University Library is to get a research building.

The Greens want to strengthen Hamburg's research priorities: climate and sustainability research, infection research, quantum technologies and materials research. Findings are to reach business and society faster and on a larger scale.

A lot of climate research happens in Hamburg. The Greens want to expand it. Research on diseases and new technology should grow too. The results should reach companies and people faster.

In climate research, existing institutions such as the CLICCS excellence cluster, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and the climate computing center are to be linked more closely. In infection research, the university, the UKE and two Leibniz institutes would be strengthened and cooperation with the Global South expanded. Quantum research is to be connected with partners in industry. The platform sees basic research as the foundation from which applications and products emerge.

The Greens want to expand the state's research funding, especially the part that is open to any topic. Universities and research institutes are also to be more closely networked and to communicate their work more to the public. The platform sees strong basic research as a foundation for the city's future prosperity.

The Greens want to give more money to research in Hamburg. Researchers should also be free to choose their topics. Universities should work together better. Science should explain its results to people more clearly.

State research funding is to grow, in particular its open-topic pillar. The PIER PLUS network, which links universities and research institutes, is to be strengthened so that innovations emerge faster. The Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy is to get support in becoming a Leibniz institute. Science communication is to be strengthened as a transfer task of universities; the platform justifies this with populism, fake news and conspiracy narratives.

The Greens want to regulate the sharing of research data through state law without restricting individuals' rights to their data. At the same time, scientific institutions are to cooperate more closely on IT so they are prepared for cyberattacks.

Researchers should be able to share data safely. People should keep the rights to their own data. The Greens want to make new state laws for this. Universities should protect their computers better against attacks.

The platform names medical data as an example for new state-level rules. Universities and research institutes are to get help building shared IT infrastructure. A joint security operation center and IT emergency management are mentioned.

The Greens want to widen the paths into vocational training, continuing education and retraining in order to gain skilled workers. Universities are to offer short courses for working people, and schools are to put career orientation into practice across all subjects.

Hamburg needs more skilled workers. So the Greens want more ways to learn on the job. Universities should offer short courses for working people. Schools should teach more about jobs. Changing jobs in mid-life should also get easier.

Micro-credentials are short, self-contained courses that can be completed alongside a job. Subject teachers are to be trained to link lessons with practical examples, and workshop rooms in general schools are to be kept. For the energy transition, the party wants to strengthen the Renewable Energy Academy at HAW, especially in electrical engineering and software engineering. There would also be a push for simplified retraining, particularly in climate-related jobs and for people whose jobs are threatened by structural change. Older workers are to get better options and models for earning extra income.

The Greens want to open Hamburg's "Religionsunterricht für alle" (religious education for all, RUfa) to more religions and to non-religious worldviews. Permission to teach the subject should no longer depend on the approval of a religious community. The reason given is that a large share of Hamburg's population has no religious affiliation.

In Hamburg, children of all religions learn together in religion class. The Greens want to open the subject further. People without a religion should also be allowed to teach it. No religious community should have to approve this anymore. The view of people without religion should count equally.

More religious communities and representatives of non-religious worldviews are to be able to help write the curricula. Critical and non-religious perspectives are to stand on an equal footing with the religions. Parents are to be informed earlier and more fully about the right to opt out, and children who opt out are to get a pedagogically meaningful alternative. The religion department at the University of Hamburg is to grow so that the Baháʼí faith, Buddhism and Hinduism are also part of academic training.

The Greens want to modernize law studies and the legal clerkship and reduce exam pressure. This includes a bachelor's degree built into the course of study, more lenient exam rules and less mandatory material. Hamburg is to take a leading role in the reform and thereby attract young talent to the justice system.

Studying law is very hard. Students who fail the final exam have no degree. The Greens want a bachelor's degree within law studies. Exams should cause less pressure. There should be less material to learn.

The deadline for the grade-improvement attempt is to be relaxed, and a third attempt at the first state exam is to be considered. To counter possible discrimination in oral exams, the Greens propose that examiners no longer see prior grades and that handwritten résumés be dropped. The legal training law is to be amended so that semesters abroad are credited more easily and the specialization can be completed entirely at a partner university in the EU. Clerkship procedures are to become more digital, and Hamburg is to keep pace with other states on trainee pay. A reform dialogue with law schools and students is planned as a pilot process.