Linke on education

The Left does not want falling birth rates to be used for job cuts and spending reductions. The freed-up capacity is instead to improve care and education in daycare centers and schools. Children are to receive lunch there at no cost.

Fewer children are being born in Saxony. The Left does not want to cut jobs in daycare and schools because of this. Care should get better instead. Children should get a lunch that costs nothing.

The platform assumes that the number of births is declining. The Left rejects cutting staff or spending for that reason. The funds are to be used to improve care and teaching for children in daycare centers and schools. The platform also provides for a free lunch for the children. The party additionally criticizes that the state does not bring enough teachers into schools.

The Left wants children to learn together for longer in Gemeinschaftsschulen (comprehensive schools) to overcome social division. It also proposes vocational training combined with the Abitur (university entrance diploma) to better meet the demand for skilled workers.

Children should learn together in one school for longer. This should make society fairer. Young people should also be able to do job training and get their diploma at the same time.

The platform presents both proposals as East German experience that can be brought into the future. Comprehensive schools are meant to reduce separation by social background. Vocational training with the Abitur is meant to help produce more skilled workers.

The Left wants to first make lunch in daycare centers and schools free and then phase out parents' daycare fees within five years. In its view, education should not depend on parents' income.

The Left wants daycare to be free. First, lunch should no longer cost anything. Then daycare fees should end within five years. The state should pay for this. All children should have the same chances.

As a first step, meal costs in daycare centers and schools would be dropped and paid from the state budget. Meals should be warm, healthy and varied, and ideally cooked in the facility's own kitchen. The party points to Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and to a January 2024 recommendation by a citizens' assembly on nutrition. The state, not cities and towns, would bear the cost of all daycare improvements.

The Left wants to gradually increase the number of staff per child in nurseries, kindergartens and after-school care. To do so, training would be paid, access made easier and working conditions improved. Daycare centers should also work inclusively.

The Left wants more educators in daycare centers. In nurseries, one staff member should care for four children. Training should be paid. Pay should go up. Children with and without disabilities should be cared for together.

The target is one staff member per four children in nurseries, per ten in kindergartens and per 17 in after-school care, with preparation time and absences counted in. The platform expects this to be reachable after two legislative terms at the earliest, since enough staff must be trained first. Educators would get more preparation time, better health protection and considerably higher pay. Every facility would receive extra staff for children with disabilities, refugee experience or a different first language. Daycare centers statewide would become parent-child centers, and falling birth rates should not lead to cuts.

The Left wants to replace school grades with learning progress reports and make homework unnecessary through all-day schooling. Curricula would be slimmed down, students would get more say, and feminist education would become part of teaching.

The Left wants no more grades in school. Instead there should be reports on how a child is learning. Homework should no longer be needed. Students should help decide more. Classes should get smaller.

Falling student numbers should be used for smaller classes rather than savings. Curricula should leave more room for project-based teaching and be drawn up with student input; students would hold the majority in the school conference. The platform also calls for motor skills tests in elementary schools, a third weekly PE lesson, school libraries and stronger arts subjects. To prevent sexualized violence, feminist education and the principle of consent would be taught. Unions would get access to schools while special privileges for the Bundeswehr there would end; teacher training would be regionalized and turned into a dual program.

The Left wants to establish the Gemeinschaftsschule (community school with longer joint learning) everywhere in Saxony and make founding such schools easier. It sees this as the school type that supports all children equally and counters social division.

The Left wants more community schools. Children learn together there for longer. Founding such schools should become easier. Every child in Saxony should be able to attend one. No more schools in rural areas should close.

According to the platform, only four community schools and three Oberschule+ schools exist so far. The minimum number of parallel classes would be lowered so such schools can also open in rural areas; the Oberschule+ is seen as an interim step. The administration should support new schools with staff, organization and funding. The party rejects further school closures. Independent schools should not be worse off than state schools in resources and teacher pay.

The Left demands that students receive all necessary learning materials, including digital devices, free of charge and that class trips cost nothing either. It also wants free lunch and a dedicated budget for each school.

The Left wants school to cost families nothing. Books and devices should be free. Class trips should also be free. There should be a healthy lunch at no charge. Each school should get its own money.

The platform counts technical equipment, fast internet, outings and class trips as learning materials. Every teacher would get a professionally maintained device, with IT administrators rather than teachers handling upkeep. Teachers would be offered training in digital skills. A school budget would let schools respond quickly to special needs. Lunch should be wholesome and ideally prepared in the school's own kitchen.

The Left wants to introduce a new school subject called Medienkunde (media studies) and anchor digital education in the curricula. Media educators in schools would support students, teachers and parents. The party favors building skills over shielding young people.

The Left wants a new school subject. It is called media studies. Children should learn to handle the internet and media well. Media experts should work in schools. Parents and teachers should get help too.

Teachers and daycare educators would receive matching initial and ongoing training. Media educators would also advise on new questions such as the use of AI systems in class. According to the platform, media literacy includes critical consumption, knowledge about algorithms and careful handling of one's own data. The party also sees this as the basis for protecting minors in the media. Media education programs should be funded statewide for all age groups.

The Left wants to make school social work mandatory at all types of schools, with at least one professional per school. The school psychology service and the anti-bullying program would also be expanded.

The Left wants social workers at every school. Each school should have at least one. They help children with problems. There should also be more school psychologists. Teachers should get help from other professionals.

The requirement would cover elementary, secondary, community, special-needs and vocational schools as well as Gymnasien. Administrative work for social workers would be reduced and the flat-rate funding for specialist advice and team leadership increased. Multiprofessional teams would relieve teachers. A municipal education management system would use local data to better coordinate schools, daycare and after-school care.

The Left wants to write a right to inclusive schooling into the school law and scale back the special-needs school system. Children with and without disabilities would learn together in mainstream schools; the party considers the current system incompatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Left wants one school for all children. Children with and without disabilities should learn together. This should be written into law. There should be fewer special schools. School buildings should have no barriers.

Parents and students would be free to choose the type of school. Mainstream schools would be fully equipped for this, with special education teachers, more classroom assistants and accessible buildings. Inclusive approaches would become a fixed part of teacher training, and all teachers would receive further training. The threshold for recognizing special needs would be lowered. German Sign Language would count as a foreign language, and deaf students would get a legal right to instruction in it.

The Left wants Germany's states to cooperate more closely on education and to set this down in an interstate treaty. It would mainly coordinate teacher training and balance its costs among the states.

The German states should work together more on education. The Left wants a treaty between the states for this. Each state should train enough teachers. The states should share the costs fairly.

Demand for teachers would be calculated with uniform forecasts in the participating states. Each state would commit to training as many teachers as are needed. Common rules are planned for selecting, qualifying and quality-checking career changers who enter teaching. Training costs would be spread through a financial equalization scheme. States whose trained teachers move elsewhere would receive compensation.

The Left wants to replace school grades with reports on learning progress and to abolish homework. Subject lessons should also not start before 9 a.m., at least for older students. The platform cites pressure on students, the limited benefit of homework and young people's sleep rhythm.

The Left wants no more grades in school. Students should get reports about their learning instead. Homework should end too. For older students, lessons should start at 9 a.m. at the earliest.

The platform describes grades as unfair, uninformative and a source of pressure. Homework would be dropped because all-day schools with a broad program make it unnecessary and studies show only a small effect on performance. Despite the later start, the school day should not get longer, thanks to flexible hours or self-study periods. Schools are to be inclusive places of learning with teams from different professions. The procedures for assessing learning levels would be reformed so that children get suitable support early on.

The Left wants to reduce teachers' workload so they can focus on teaching. Falling student numbers should be used for smaller classes rather than for saving money. The party rules out school closures, especially in rural areas.

Teachers should have less strain. Other experts should take over some of their tasks. Classes should get smaller. No school should close. The Left wants to win more teachers with scholarships.

Tasks outside the classroom would be handled by specialists in administration, IT, school social work and psychology. The required number of teaching hours would be lowered, or homeroom teachers would get extra credited hours. The Left rejects forced part-time work for teachers even if student numbers drop. Instead, the maximum class size would be reduced. Additional incentives such as scholarships are meant to attract more people to teacher training. The platform points to 1.6 million canceled lessons in the 2022/2023 school year.

The Left wants to reorganize teacher training into university studies, career entry and continuing education. Teachers would be trained by school level rather than school type, with earlier practical phases and support for placements in rural areas.

The Left wants to change how teachers are trained. They should train for age levels, not for one type of school. Practice in schools should start earlier. Students who do practice in rural areas should get more money.

Exam and workload in the degree program would be reduced, and subject knowledge and teaching methods would build on each other. For practical phases in rural areas, the platform mentions help such as housing and reimbursed travel costs. Branch offices for teacher training in eastern and western Saxony would allow supervision and some seminars close to home. During career entry, teaching hours and pay would rise step by step. Foreign qualifications would be recognized much faster.

The Left wants statewide education vouchers for courses and further training. Volkshochschulen (adult education centers) and other recognized providers would get secure basic funding from the state so that everyone in Saxony can learn throughout life.

Everyone in Saxony should be able to learn all their life. The Left wants vouchers for courses. Adult education centers should get secure money from the state. Course teachers should get fair pay.

The vouchers would be valid for recognized courses, further training and qualification programs at public and private providers. Learning outside institutions, in everyday life and leisure time, would also be recognized and supported. Adult education centers would be preserved and have a stronger local presence across Saxony. For course instructors there, the platform calls for legally secure and adequately paid employment. Providers would also be allowed to hold state exams for people catching up on school diplomas.

The Left wants to reduce apprenticeship dropouts through career counseling at all secondary schools, tighter checks on training conditions and more support. Vocational training is also to become inclusive and break down gender stereotypes.

Many young people quit their apprenticeship. So the Left wants more career advice in schools. Authorities should check companies more closely. People with disabilities should be able to do an apprenticeship.

Occupational fields would be introduced from grade 5, and project weeks from grade 8 would be part of the curriculum and also present trade unions. Chambers and authorities would check more closely whether training plans, working hours and leave entitlements are respected. Support for first-time training from the Federal Employment Agency would be possible beyond age 25, alongside a state initiative for young people without a vocational qualification. Independent vocational schools would be put on equal footing with state ones. An inclusive training system for people with disabilities would be set up, and counseling would become gender-sensitive.

The Left wants to sharply reduce fixed-term and insecure employment at universities. Permanent tasks should come with permanent positions, and at the federal level the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (law on fixed-term academic contracts) should be replaced by a new law.

Many university staff only have temporary contracts. The Left wants more permanent jobs. Student employees should get a union contract. A federal law on temporary contracts in science should be dropped.

The number of fixed-term contracts is to fall substantially. The Left calls for a collective agreement for student employees. Mid-level academic staff would get statewide representation written into the higher education act. Adjunct lecturers, especially at music and art colleges, would receive much better pay. The Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz would give way to a science qualification law without maximum time limits on fixed-term employment. The platform calls for adequate university funding for this.

The Left wants to ease access to university and give students financial security. Tuition fees and the numerus clausus (grade-based admission cap) would be abolished and basic income support for students introduced. Until then, BAföG (student aid) should become a grant that does not depend on parents' income.

Going to university should be easier. The Left wants to end all tuition fees. The numerus clausus should go too. That is admission based on grades. All students should get money to live on.

According to the platform, only eleven percent of students receive BAföG, and more than 30 percent are poor or at risk of poverty. Student services organizations would get adequate subsidies and an investment program for dorms. Plans include a right to an orientation program of at least two semesters and a legal right to part-time study; the limit on exam attempts would be dropped. Mandatory internships and preparatory service would be paid at least at the maximum BAföG rate. Students with disabilities would get a right to compensation for disadvantages, and campuses and teaching would become accessible.

The Left wants a strategy for open access, meaning free access to scholarly publications. Research paid for with public money in Saxony should be available to everyone. Research should also not be judged only by its commercial usefulness.

Research often costs tax money. The Left wants everyone to be able to read the results. This should be written into the university law. Non-profit research should also get support. Universities should also become climate neutral.

The Saxon higher education act would include a right to secondary publication that cannot be waived by contract. Results, data and software code from publicly funded research would appear as open-access publications. Non-profit research organizations outside universities would be supported and gain access to public contracts. In addition, universities would commit to climate neutrality, offer mandatory modules on climate justice and each set up a sustainability office.

The Left wants to turn physical education into a daily offering for movement and health and abolish grades in PE. Instead of competition, assessment is to be based on each child's starting point and progress. School sports should be possible everywhere.

The Left wants to change PE classes. Children should move every day at school. There should be no more grades in PE. What counts is each child's own progress.

The party wants to make sure that sports can take place at all schools and that enough PE teachers are trained. The new form of assessment is meant to be fair to all children. Models such as "Bewegte Kita" (active daycare) and "Bewegte Schule" (active school) serve as examples and are to be expanded.