SPD on education

Together with the federal government and municipalities, the SPD wants to put more than one billion euros into schools and vocational schools. It also wants to secure teaching across the state and reduce the workload of teachers.

The SPD wants to spend a lot of money on schools. It is more than one billion euros. Vocational schools and their dorms get money too. Teachers should have to teach fewer hours.

The money is also meant for the boarding facilities of vocational schools. The SPD wants to discuss with school authorities how the school campus model can secure equal education, especially in rural areas; all school types and diplomas would be available at one site. The goal is high-quality teaching everywhere in the state. Teachers are to be relieved, among other things through fewer required teaching hours. A timetable with stages is to be drawn up for this within the Bildungspakt Gute Schule (education pact for good schools), taking population trends into account.

The SPD wants to continue state funding for youth and school social work at a high level and to examine a central coordination office. Produktionsschulen (work-based training schools) are to be kept and adequately funded as a path into training and work.

The SPD wants to keep paying for school social work. Social workers help children and teenagers with problems. Production schools should also stay. Young people learn practical job skills there.

For more than 20 years the state has helped counties and independent cities with staff costs, using state money and the European Social Fund. A possible coordination office for school social work would handle expert advice, networking, quality assurance and further training and maintain contacts at the federal level. The program describes production schools as a low-threshold step between school and work. They are meant to give young people a chance at integration into work and society.

The SPD wants to make the training of lawyers in the state, especially the Referendariat (post-university legal clerkship), more attractive. The aim is to meet the statewide need for new legal professionals.

The SPD wants to improve training for lawyers in the state. Lawyers include judges and attorneys. The exam rules will be reviewed. Training should cause less needless pressure.

The examination regulation for legal training is to be fully evaluated and changed as needed. In the platform's view, artificially created pressure does not improve training. Options under review include an exam that can be split over time, a more flexible clerkship and counting earlier grades toward the final exam grade.

The SPD wants to expand teams of different professions at schools and make all school-leaving qualifications attainable close to home. The school construction program is to grow; 600 million euros from the MV-Plan are earmarked for schools.

The SPD wants more experts from different professions at schools. They should work as a team. People should be able to earn every school diploma near home. 600 million euros are planned for schools.

Working conditions at schools are to improve. Qualifications close to home are to be achieved mainly through education campuses that link existing school types and public and independent schools more closely. The platform sees schools as an essential public service. The 400-million-euro school construction program will be expanded, and at 600 million of the 1.92 billion euros in federal funds, schools are the largest single item.

The SPD wants to give democracy education and lessons on extremism more room in everyday school life. It argues that extremist actors are putting schools under growing pressure. Democracy education is to be part of every subject and of staff training.

The SPD wants more democracy education in schools. Students should learn more about extremism. Extremism means that people reject democracy. Teachers should also learn more about this.

Democracy education is to be taught as a cross-cutting topic in all subjects and to be part of the qualification of all school staff. It is to be a fixed element of university teacher training, the Referendariat (practical teacher training), continuing education and the training of school principals. Staff should be able to act with pedagogical and legal confidence to prevent anti-democratic behavior and respond to it. Democracy education is also to be strengthened at vocational schools, for example regarding workers' rights. The SPD calls democracy education a core part of a democracy able to defend itself.

The SPD wants a school system in which children learn together as far as possible and receive individual support regardless of their background. Staff positions freed up by falling birth rates are to stay in the education system and be used to improve quality.

The SPD wants children to learn together where possible. Every child should get good support. Fewer children are being born. The staff no longer needed should stay in schools. This should make schools better.

All students should be able to reach the highest diploma matching their potential, including high achievers and gifted students. The program names permeability between school tracks and high quality as the foundation. Freed-up staff is to be used step by step for quality improvements. Early childhood educators are to be offered roles, where needed, along the path from daycare to vocational school. Basic skills in German and math and everyday skills such as financial literacy and conflict resolution are also to be strengthened further.

The SPD wants to promote media literacy and the handling of artificial intelligence in all school types in an age-appropriate way. The school system as a whole is to be developed digitally, including with federal money.

The SPD wants students to learn how to handle media. This includes artificial intelligence. Teachers get training and materials for this. Schools should become more digital.

Teachers are to receive training and practical materials. The digital development of schools is to take place together with all stakeholders and with financial help from the federal government. The goal is a didactically useful and at the same time critical use of digital tools. The program also includes evaluating information and using social media responsibly.

The SPD wants to gradually make teams of different professions part of the basic staffing of daycare centers and schools. Institutions facing particular learning challenges are to come first.

The SPD wants teams from different professions in daycare centers and schools. These include social workers and psychologists, for example. Schools with many problems get such teams first. Later all should have them.

The teams may include specialists in school social work, special education, school psychology, curative education care and integration assistance. The qualification of integration aides is to be improved and standardized, and their deployment reorganized. The aim is coordinated support throughout the school day that avoids duplicate structures. More such teams are also to be made possible at vocational schools.

The SPD wants to support sites where several school types and institutions work together, in order to make it easier to move between tracks. Two model schools are to test new educational concepts, and grading is to be reformed.

The SPD wants to link several school types in one place. This is called an education campus. Children should be able to change school type more easily. Two schools should try out new ideas. Grades and feedback should also change.

Federal infrastructure funds are to be used for campus sites offering all diplomas; planning should include rooms for differentiated teaching, therapy, school psychology and after-school care. One model school each in Mecklenburg and in Vorpommern is to be selected, given special legal, curricular and staffing leeway, and accompanied by researchers. The exception allowing the orientation stage (grades 5 and 6) to be attached to elementary school is to become easier for municipalities to use where no campus is possible. Grading is to focus on feedback that supports learning. Schools are to gain autonomy, with the school administration acting as support.

The SPD wants to develop a social index of its own for the state. Staff and money are to go specifically to schools where many children need more support.

The SPD wants to share out school money differently. Some schools have many children who need more help. These schools should get more money and staff. The SPD wants to use data for this.

Allocation is to be data-based and guided by need. The program sees links to the Startchancenprogramm, a federal-state scheme supporting schools in difficult circumstances. The SPD also wants to recruit staff especially for disadvantaged schools and rural areas.

The SPD wants to record teachers' working hours and clearly describe their duties to protect them from overload. Principals and teaching staff are to be relieved of administrative tasks.

The SPD wants to measure teachers' working hours. This should stop teachers from working too much. First there will be a trial. More office staff should help schools.

A new system for recording working time is to be developed in a pilot project together with representatives of teachers and principals. Additional administrative staff is to support schools so that teaching stays at the center. Health care provision and the prevention of violence and extremism in schools are to be strengthened. The SPD also commits to the "Gute Schule 2030" education pact between the state and the unions.

The SPD wants to tackle the teacher shortage with more qualified student teachers and teachers, backed by high-quality lateral entry from other careers. The reform of teacher education is to be completed with an adapted Referendariat (practical training phase).

The state lacks teachers. The SPD wants to win more people for teaching. People from other jobs should also be able to become teachers. Training should get better.

Continuing education and lateral entry are to be expanded together with universities, with a focus on diverse classrooms, digital education and individual support. The state's Institute for Quality Assurance (IQ MV) is to be developed further. The Referendariat is to match the new secondary-level teaching degree and be evaluated regularly; the Bereitschaftserklärung (a declaration linking trainees to their training school) is to return. Mentors are to get more credited hours or other relief. The SPD especially wants to attract and retain staff for rural areas and disadvantaged schools.

The SPD wants to help schools maintain partnerships across Europe. Exchange programs and the state's network of Europaschulen (Europe-focused schools) are to be strengthened.

The SPD wants more exchange with schools in Europe. Students should get to know other countries. There are programs like Erasmus+ for this. The state should make better use of EU money.

The network of Europaschulen is to grow so that schools learn more from each other. Digital exchange projects, for instance with schools in Poland, Denmark and the Baltic states, are to receive support. European Union funding is to be used more fully. In addition, class and study trips should be possible for all classes and easier to organize.

The SPD wants to better equip all-day schools and improve their quality. In the long run, the "gebundene Ganztagsschule" (an all-day school where the full day is mandatory for all students) is to become the standard statewide.

The SPD wants better all-day schools. Children spend the whole day at school there. Later all schools should work this way. All children should get a healthy and cheap lunch.

Schools in areas with particular challenges are to be first in line to become mandatory all-day schools. The SPD continues to push for a healthy, affordable lunch for everyone. Funding is to let cultural, social and sports organizations offer lasting, plannable programs. Schools should also offer programs during vacation periods. School authorities and child and youth welfare providers are to cooperate more closely.

The SPD wants to strengthen dual vocational training and put 250 million euros into vocational schools and skilled-trades training centers by 2037. The network of vocational schools is to be preserved across the state.

The SPD wants to strengthen job training. The state should invest 250 million euros. The money goes to vocational schools and training centers for trades. The vocational schools in the state should stay.

Students are to get more choices, and vocational education is to become more inclusive, including through partial qualifications. Training courses are to be expanded, among other things with digital tools. The subsidy for apprentices' accommodation costs stays and can be adjusted if costs rise. More counseling and support for companies and apprentices is meant to reduce the number of terminated training contracts. Within federal rules, there is to be a more flexible exam system with several exam periods.

The SPD wants to make the Jugendberufsagenturen (youth employment agencies) the central point of contact for young people so that no one is lost when moving from school to work. Career guidance in schools is to be developed systematically.

After school, young people start working life. That is often hard. The SPD wants one fixed place for help. Schools should give better information about jobs.

The youth employment agencies are to be involved as partners across the state and help improve local structures and services. Disadvantaged young people in particular are to find their way into working life. Career guidance is to link school, everyday life and work more closely. It is also meant to counter gender-typical ideas about occupations.

The SPD wants to keep supporting Volkshochschulen (adult education centers) and evening high schools and to strengthen adult education for the long term. The state's educational leave law is to cover federal employees as well and allow educational trips abroad.

The SPD wants to strengthen education for adults. Adult education centers should stay in town and country. Workers can get time off for education. This should soon apply to more people. Educational trips abroad should also be possible.

According to the program, adult education centers and evening high schools let people earn any diploma up to the Abitur later in life and offer literacy courses. Their services are to remain available in urban and rural areas. The residential adult education centers (Heimvolkshochschulen) are to be kept. In the SPD's view, extending educational leave also promotes openness to the world. The offerings are to remain easy to access.

The SPD wants to keep all university locations in the state and channel additional investment into universities and research. It wants to protect academic freedom and continue promoting women in academia.

The SPD wants to keep all universities in the state. It wants to spend more money on research. Researchers should work freely and without pressure. Women should get more chances in science.

Universities are to coordinate closely in research and teaching, guided by the state's needs. The dialogue on a long-term science and research strategy will continue. Together with the universities, the academic system is to become more resilient. Because women are underrepresented at senior career levels, the cascade model, which sets target quotas based on the level below, is to continue. More training capacity for lawyers and a more attractive range of information technology degrees are to be examined.

The SPD wants to keep the first course of study through the master's degree free of tuition, arguing that education must not depend on parents' income. The Studierendenwerke (student services organizations) are to keep receiving support for food, housing and psychosocial counseling.

The first degree should stay free of charge. This applies up to the master's degree. The SPD also wants to support student services. They provide cheap food and housing.

The federal program "Junges Wohnen" is to be used to renovate and build dormitory places. When cafeterias are renovated, they are to be adapted so they can serve civil protection in crises. Digital teaching is to be expanded, especially in dual study programs, in balance with in-person teaching. Course content is to become more flexible, for example through more elective modules, internships and dual study programs.

The SPD wants to support universities in going international and in building European University Alliances. The goal is a shared knowledge area around the Baltic Sea that keeps talent in the state and attracts more.

The SPD wants to connect universities with other countries. Countries on the Baltic Sea matter most. There should be joint research and degree programs. More young people should study abroad.

Planned are cross-border research projects, for example through Horizon Europe, and more joint degree programs. Universities are to offer a balanced share of English-language programs. The SPD wants to promote Erasmus+ so that more university students, apprentices and school students gain experience abroad.

The SPD wants research results to reach businesses faster and aims for more start-ups spun off from universities and institutes. Artificial intelligence is to be researched and used more widely across disciplines. Top-level research and early-career researchers are to keep receiving support.

The SPD wants to strengthen research in the state. New ideas should reach companies faster. More new companies should grow out of universities. Artificial intelligence should also be researched more.

The AI center at the University of Rostock and other digital research infrastructure are to keep receiving support, as are prototypes and pilot projects. The state excellence initiative will continue, and research scholarships and graduate schools will still be funded. In the next target agreements with universities, the SPD wants to examine how more permanent positions for postdocs can be created. Support structures for researchers and teaching staff are to be set up or linked. The SPD also wants to press the federal government and the EU to clarify how value-added tax applies in the science sector.

The SPD wants to further step up fusion research in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The program points to the state as home of the Wendelstein 7-X and sees it as a world leader in this field. Laser fusion research is also to grow.

The SPD wants to do more for fusion research. In nuclear fusion, atomic cores merge and release energy. The state has a large research facility for this. Research on fusion with lasers should also grow.

The state is part of the nationwide fusion alliance and wants to increase its efforts there. The SPD also wants to support training in this field of technology. A new Helmholtz Institute for High Energy Density Research (HEDI) is to be built at the University of Rostock together with partners in Saxony.

The SPD wants to keep funding university construction adequately after 2030 and to promote climate-neutral campuses. Academic libraries, open access and data centers are to be strengthened. At the same time, university administration is to face less red tape.

The SPD wants to keep paying for university buildings. This should also apply after 2030. Universities should become climate-neutral. Libraries and data centers should get support. There should be less red tape.

Universities are to receive sufficient data center capacity. A digital legal deposit copy is to be introduced for university libraries; the SPD wants to advance open access and open science and implement the state strategy on research data management. The party wants to press the federal government and the EU for simpler funding procedures, applications and reporting duties, especially for EU and state funds.