Grüne on education

The Greens want to improve conditions for apprentices, including better-equipped vocational schools and affordable housing. They plan to introduce an interest-free loan of 1,500 euros at the start of training. The platform justifies this with the future need for skilled workers.

The Greens want to make job training in the state better. Vocational schools should get more staff and equipment. Apprentices should find cheap housing. At the start they get a 1,500 euro loan with no interest.

Those who have worked a total of one year as a skilled worker in the state after training do not have to repay the start bonus. Vocational schools are to get better staffing and technical equipment. Schooling across state borders is meant to secure quality and suitable class sizes. Tuition-free school-based training at independent providers is to be extended to shortage occupations.

The Greens want to tie universities' core funding to rising costs and set up a multi-year investment program for buildings and infrastructure. The platform points to a renovation backlog and warns that the state would otherwise lose innovative strength and appeal.

The Greens want to give universities more money. The money should grow when costs go up. Old buildings should be repaired. This should help universities plan ahead.

The plan calls for core funding that keeps pace with costs. A multi-year program for university construction is meant to reduce the renovation backlog and create modern spaces for teaching and research. The state and the universities are to sign long-term target agreements. The Studierendenwerke (student services organizations) are to get enough funding to secure housing, counseling and cafeterias and to add affordable student housing. The Wohnsitzprämie (a bonus for students who register their residence in the state) is to be kept.

The Greens want to add more permanent positions at universities and improve working conditions for doctoral candidates. According to the platform, this should let researchers plan reliably and stay in the state.

Many researchers only have short-term contracts. The Greens want more permanent jobs at universities. Doctoral students should also get better conditions. This should keep researchers in the state.

Ongoing tasks carried out by mid-level academic staff are to be covered by permanent positions. Doctoral candidates are to get contracts with adequate hours and dependable supervision. Professors and other teaching leads would have to complete mandatory training, for example in staff management, conflict management and student supervision. The state higher education act is to strengthen collegial department structures to encourage cooperation in teaching.

The Greens want to develop a statewide strategy to strengthen students' mental health. Psychosocial counseling is to be expanded at every university location so that students can find support when pressure gets too high.

Many students struggle with stress and mental strain. The Greens want a plan for the whole state. Every university should offer more counseling. Students should not be left alone with their pressure.

The platform says many students are left without help when they face mental strain. It plans a statewide strategy to promote their mental health. In addition, psychosocial counseling is to be expanded at all university locations in the state.

The Greens want to strengthen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as an international place to study and fund international and English-language degree programs through a state program. The platform points to falling numbers of first-year students and the need for skilled workers.

The Greens want to attract more students from other countries. There should be more degree programs in English. The state should advertise its universities around the world. This should also bring more skilled workers to the state.

The state program is meant to support degree programs mainly in sustainability, digitalization and climate protection. Binational degree programs with universities in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe are to receive targeted funding. International offices and welcome services at universities are to be strengthened. An active state marketing strategy is to make the state better known worldwide as a place to study.

The Greens want to lower teachers' required teaching hours and make multi-professional teams possible at all schools. The platform argues that teachers in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern carry one of the heaviest workloads in Germany.

Teachers should have to teach fewer hours. Other experts should help out at schools. For example social workers and psychologists. This gives teachers more time for good lessons.

The lower number of students is to be used to reduce teaching loads; secondments and administrative tasks are also to be cut back. In the teams, specialists in school social work, school psychology, special education and inclusion support, along with administrative assistants, would work together with teachers. Open positions are to be filled more often with fully trained teachers, for which the number of teaching graduates is to rise. Teacher training is to become more practice-oriented and mentoring during the Vorbereitungsdienst (practical training phase) improved to reduce dropouts. A scholarship program is planned for students in shortage subjects such as math and physics.

The Greens want schools to decide more for themselves about their focus areas, offerings and grading methods. Curricula and timetables are to be slimmed down. The platform argues that schools often know best what makes them good places to learn.

The Greens want to give schools more freedom. Schools should be able to pick their own focus. Lesson plans should be shorter. There should be fewer separate subjects.

Schools are to be able to build their own academic and teaching profile, explicitly including Regionalschulen (regional secondary schools). The plan includes fewer subjects, more combined subjects, cross-subject teaching and more choice in how student work is assessed. A state strategy is to expand STEM education, and digitalization is to continue with reliable on-site tech support. Memorials, museums, research institutions and companies are to be brought in systematically as places of learning. Public and independent schools are to share good practice more closely. The platform cites a dropout rate above 10 percent as the reason to act.

The Greens want children to learn together through sixth grade, preferably at the same school. Students should be able to earn the Abitur (university entrance diploma) after either 12 or 13 years. The platform points to studies saying frequent school changes hurt educational success.

Children should learn together until grade 6. This should happen at one school if possible. Students should be able to finish the Abitur after 12 or 13 years. The Abitur is the diploma needed for university.

Shared schooling is to run through the end of sixth grade and, where possible, take place without a change of location. For the final school years, the platform calls for flexible graduation phases. Students would choose between an Abitur after twelve years and one after thirteen. The reasoning given is research on the drawbacks of frequent school changes.

The Greens stand by teaching children with and without special educational needs together. Schools are to get more staff and suitable facilities for this.

Children with and without disabilities should learn together. Schools should get more staff for this. Buildings and technology should fit too.

The platform names more staff and adequate buildings and technical equipment as the conditions for inclusion. The Greens oppose what they describe as anti-inclusion campaigns by other parties. Children with and without special needs should continue to be able to attend the same school.

The Greens want to give students a binding say in school decisions and a budget of their own. Counseling and mental health programs are to be expanded as well. The platform argues that only those who experience democracy at school learn to take responsibility.

Students should have more say at their school. Each school should get money that students decide on. There should be counseling for mental health problems. Teachers should learn more about digital media.

Depending on its size, each school would receive 1,000 to 4,000 euros that students allocate democratically. School conferences are to become transparent bodies whose decisions are binding. Democracy education and media literacy are to be anchored in curricula and teacher training, especially on disinformation and cyberbullying. Schools are to offer psychosocial counseling, and mental health programs are to be developed together with students. Educational and class trips are also to take place regularly again.

The Greens want the state to cover part of the cost of meals in daycare centers and schools if they are certified to the standards of the German Nutrition Society. This is meant to ease the burden on families. School kitchens are also to be subsidized.

The state should help pay for meals in daycare and schools. Families should then pay less. Schools should get their own kitchens. Children should get fresh, warm food.

The state contribution is tied to meals being certified by the German Nutrition Society (DGE). The expansion of school kitchens is to be subsidized so that food is cooked fresh on site. Nutrition education is to keep growing as a fixed part of daycare and school.

The Greens want the University of Rostock to offer a law program again that ends with the First State Examination. The reason given is the need for more judges and lawyers in the state so that court proceedings move faster.

The Greens want a law degree in Rostock again. The state needs more judges and lawyers. Then court cases should go faster.

The program is to lead to the First State Examination, the standard qualification for legal professions in Germany. The party points out that courts lack staff and people wait a long time for rulings. With more young lawyers, the Greens say, the rule of law should work reliably again.

The Greens want to establish age-appropriate sex education starting in daycare and to strengthen sex education programs. The platform sees this as part of education and child protection: those who are well informed can recognize boundaries and better protect themselves from abuse.

Children and teenagers have questions about their bodies and relationships. The Greens want more education on this in daycare and schools. It should fit the child's age. The Greens say knowledge protects children from abuse.

Sex education programs are to be strengthened in schools, youth work and facilities for people with disabilities, in line with the state's education framework. Professionals are to receive targeted training so they can guide young people safely and with their protection in mind. The platform criticizes that sex education so far depends too much on the family home.