What do the parties in North Rhine-Westphalia say on education?

The AfD wants to keep and expand the different types of schools and opposes a move toward comprehensive schools for all. Every school should form learning groups of similar ability. Lower and intermediate secondary schools should prepare students specifically for vocational training in the dual system.

The AfD wants to keep different types of schools. It does not want one school for all. Children with similar ability should learn together. The AfD also wants to strengthen job training. Schools should prepare students better for it.

The AfD demands that children learn to read and write from first grade using cursive handwriting and the primer method. Dictations and writing exercises are to become a fixed part of German lessons again. The platform regards good handwriting as a prerequisite for success at school.

Children should learn cursive writing in first grade. They should learn with a primer. A primer is a book that introduces letters step by step. Dictations should be a fixed part of German lessons again.

The AfD wants to end the current practice of inclusion in schools and to keep and expand special-needs schools (Förderschulen). In its view, Germany already meets the United Nations' requirements on participation in education through its special school system.

Special schools are schools for children with special needs. The AfD wants to keep and expand these schools. It wants to stop joint teaching in its present form. The AfD says special schools help these children best.

The AfD wants to hire more teachers for all types of schools and reduce class sizes to 12 to 20 students in the medium term. It wants to keep and professionalize open all-day schooling. The state is to contribute substantially to its funding and cover the staff costs.

The AfD wants smaller school classes. A class should have 12 to 20 children. For this, there should be more teachers. Afternoon care at schools should stay and get better. The state should pay for the staff.

The AfD wants every school to adopt a binding dress code. The party rejects headscarves for female students until at least age 14. It justifies this with the neutrality of schools and a professional learning atmosphere.

Every school should have fixed rules for clothing. The rules apply to everyone at the school. Girls under 14 should not wear a headscarf at school. The AfD says school should be neutral.

The AfD calls for uniform nationwide standards for the tasks, grading criteria and marking of the Abitur (university entrance exam). It also wants to introduce a voluntary Propädeutikum at Gymnasien, an extended Abitur exam that prepares students for academic work.

The Abitur is the final school exam before university. It should follow the same rules all over Germany. The AfD also wants a voluntary extra exam at Gymnasium schools. It is called Propädeutikum. It prepares very strong students for university.

The AfD wants teacher-led whole-class instruction to become an essential part of learning again. Teachers are to be strengthened as authorities in both their subject and in discipline. Notable social and work behavior is to be recorded on report cards.

Teachers should lead lessons themselves again. They should teach in front of the whole class. The AfD wants more discipline at school. Report cards should show how a student behaves and works.

The AfD wants the commission for Islamic religious education to be staffed only with representatives of associations whose view of religion is committed to the European Enlightenment. Organizations to which it attributes fundamentalist tendencies, such as DITIB, are to be excluded.

North Rhine-Westphalia has a commission for Islamic religion classes. The AfD wants to allow only certain Islamic groups there. These groups should share the values of the Enlightenment. The association DITIB should no longer take part.

The AfD wants universities in North Rhine-Westphalia to offer the Diplom, Magister and Staatsexamen degrees again alongside bachelor's and master's programs. It considers the Bologna reform a failure. Teacher training is also to be restructured, with teacher training colleges and a two-year practical training period.

Universities used to offer degrees called Diplom, Magister and Staatsexamen. The AfD wants to allow these degrees again. Bachelor's and master's degrees should stay too. Teachers should also be trained differently. Their practical training should last two years.

The AfD wants to make university chairs less dependent on third-party funding and requires university leaders to safeguard open debate on campus. Approval of degree programs is to move from private accreditation agencies back to the ministry in order to cut bureaucracy.

Researchers often need money from outside. The AfD wants them to depend on it less. At universities, everyone should be able to state their views. The ministry should approve degree programs again. Today private firms do this.

The CDU wants to make North Rhine-Westphalia the leading state for vocational training, working with business, the social partners and the chambers. For workers hit especially hard by structural change, it plans a drive for further and continuing education.

The CDU wants to strengthen job training in companies. It should count as much as a university degree. Workers should find it easier to learn new skills. This matters most where the economy is changing a lot.

The CDU wants to retain the tiered school system with its different school types and to keep special-needs schools (Förderschulen), expanding them as needed. At the same time, teachers at mainstream schools are to get more help with inclusive teaching. In the platform's view, this variety secures freedom of choice and nurtures different talents.

North Rhine-Westphalia has different types of schools. The CDU wants to keep it that way. Special-needs schools should also stay. Children who need support should also be able to learn at regular schools. Teachers there should get more help.

The CDU wants to turn all schools in socially difficult settings into Talentschulen (talent schools). These are to receive more staff and better facilities. Teachers there are to get extra pay for outstanding performance.

Some schools have many children in difficult circumstances. The CDU wants to make all of these schools talent schools. Talent schools get more teachers and better buildings. Teachers there should get extra pay for special achievements.

The CDU wants to make leading a school more attractive. Principals are to teach fewer classes and get help from administrative specialists. The platform wants stronger management skills at the top of schools.

Schools need good principals. The CDU wants to make this job more attractive. Principals should have to teach fewer classes. Administrative staff should help them. This should make schools run better.

The CDU wants to expand digital learning in regular classroom teaching and give every child a digital device. Digital methods are meant to supplement lessons, not replace them. School authorities would receive a flat-rate digital grant.

The CDU wants more digital learning at school. Every child should get a device, such as a tablet. Normal classroom teaching should stay. Towns and cities should get money for the technology.

The CDU wants to strengthen teaching in math, computer science, natural sciences and technology (STEM). Computer science is to be expanded and become a subject for the Abitur (university entrance exam). More STEM teachers are to be trained.

The CDU wants more teaching in STEM subjects. STEM means math, computer science, science and technology. Computer science should become a subject in the final school exam. There should be more teachers for these subjects.

The CDU wants to turn more primary schools into family centers and keep expanding the Offener Ganztag (voluntary all-day school program). It welcomes the legal right to an all-day place from 2026 but insists the federal government contribute permanently to the costs. The aim is to make it easier to combine family and work.

The CDU wants more all-day places at primary schools. From 2026, children have a right to such a place. The federal government should help pay for this for good. Primary schools should also become places where families get advice.

The CDU wants to hire another 10,000 teachers within five years. Pay for primary and lower secondary teachers is to be aligned with that of upper secondary teachers. Multi-professional teams are to relieve teachers of other tasks.

The CDU wants to hire 10,000 new teachers. This should happen within five years. Primary school teachers should get better pay. Other experts should help at schools, such as social workers.

The CDU wants to review and reform the state's teacher training law. Future primary school teachers would study two compulsory subjects instead of three. Professional development for teachers is to be expanded, especially on digital topics.

The CDU wants to change how teachers are trained. People who want to teach at primary schools should study only two subjects. Today they study three. There should also be more training courses for working teachers.

The CDU stands by denominational religious education taught in German under German school supervision. It wants to support an Islamic theology faculty in Münster. In the long run, imams and teachers of Islamic religion are to be trained in German in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The CDU wants to keep religious education at schools. It should be taught in German. The state should supervise it. A faculty for Islamic theology should be built up in Münster. In the future, imams should be trained in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The CDU regards vocational and academic education as equal in value and wants to strengthen dual vocational training (combined company and school training). Lower secondary school qualifications are to be geared more toward vocational training. Vocational schools are to get more staff and modernized buildings.

The CDU wants to strengthen job training. More young people should train in a company. Students should do internships in businesses. Vocational schools should get more teachers and better buildings.

The CDU wants to reorganize school funding together with the municipal umbrella associations. The first step is a stocktaking of how schools are funded today. The program argues that responsibilities need to be adjusted to growing demands.

The state and local governments pay for schools together. The CDU wants to set better rules for this. First it wants to check how things work today. It wants to do this with the associations of towns and cities.

The CDU wants to further strengthen adult education centers and independent continuing education providers. Second-chance education is to be expanded so that people can earn school diplomas later in life. Those who failed at school should thereby gain opportunities for participation and advancement.

The CDU wants to strengthen education for adults. People should be able to earn school diplomas later in life. There should be more courses in reading and writing. Older people should also get more courses.

The CDU wants to spend twice as much on cultural education and expand offerings for all age groups, from daycare to seniors. Music schools are to get more state money and thus more permanent positions.

The CDU wants to spend twice as much on cultural education. That means, for example, learning music, dance and art. There should be offers for children and adults. Music schools should get more permanent teachers.

The CDU wants all children to be able to swim safely by the end of sixth grade. It points to the growing number of children and teenagers who cannot swim.

The CDU wants every child to be able to swim. This should be the case by the end of sixth grade at the latest. There should be more swimming teachers. More pools for practice are also planned.

The CDU wants to increase state funding for better teaching at universities. Digital teaching formats are to be combined permanently with in-person teaching, while universities are to remain in-person institutions.

The CDU wants to give more money for teaching at universities. Students should still learn on campus. Digital offers should be added. Both together are called hybrid teaching.

The CDU declares the debate over tuition fees closed. It pledges not to reintroduce such fees in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Studying in North Rhine-Westphalia costs no tuition fees. The CDU wants it to stay that way. It does not want to bring tuition fees back.

The CDU wants to press the federal government to reform BAföG (federal student aid) so that parents' income plays a smaller role. At the same time, better advising and targeted talent support are meant to help more young people finish their degrees.

BAföG is money from the state for students. Today it depends a lot on what the parents earn. The CDU wants to change that. It also wants to make advice for students better.

The CDU wants to expand top-level research and its institutions so that North Rhine-Westphalia ranks among the leading science locations in Germany. A new innovation fund with an additional 100 million euros is meant to kick-start new scientific priorities.

The CDU wants to strengthen research in the state. There should be a new fund for this. A fund is a pot of money. The pot should hold 100 million euros.

The CDU wants to continue digitizing universities and offer one uniform campus app for the whole state. It is to serve as a digital student ID and bundle services of everyday university life.

The CDU wants one app for all students in the state. The app should be the student ID. Students should be able to pay in the cafeteria with it. The ticket for buses and trains should also be in the app.

The CDU wants to keep reducing the investment backlog at universities and launch a renovation program for that purpose. In addition, more affordable housing for students is to be created.

Many university buildings are old. The CDU wants to repair and renew them. It also wants to create more low-cost housing for students.

The FDP wants to expand language support in early childhood education and set up a state institute for early language learning. Language gaps from the Covid period are to be recorded and made up. The plusKITAS (daycare centers with extra support for children from difficult social backgrounds) are to be strengthened considerably.

Children should learn to speak well early on. The FDP wants to found a new state institute for this. Many children learned less because of Covid. The FDP wants to make up for that with language support. Special daycare centers for disadvantaged children should get more help.

The FDP wants to introduce children to math, computer science, natural sciences and technology as early as daycare and teach them first skills in handling digital media. A 'digital daycare bonus' is to fund devices and training. Educators are to get a training concept for simple experiments.

Children should explore and experiment already in daycare. They should also learn to handle digital media well. The FDP wants to give money for devices and training. Every educator should have a digital device.

Within five years, the FDP wants to launch a statewide scholarship for at least 100,000 students at secondary schools. Talent scouts from universities are to find, advise and accompany these young people. Talent support is to get permanent funding and a legal basis.

The FDP wants a scholarship for at least 100,000 school students. A scholarship is support for gifted young people. Talent scouts should find and advise these young people. Where they come from should not matter.

The FDP wants to take the Talentschulen (specially supported schools in disadvantaged areas) beyond the pilot stage and expand them to 1,000 schools statewide. According to the platform, educational opportunity should not depend on parents' income or the neighborhood a child grows up in.

The FDP wants many more Talentschulen. These schools get extra help in poorer neighborhoods. There should be 1,000 of them across the state. Children should have good chances no matter where they live.

The FDP wants to keep the tiered school system with its different school types and its mix of public and independent schools. It rejects debates about abolishing individual school types, while calling for all types to be treated equally.

North Rhine-Westphalia has many kinds of schools. The FDP wants to keep it that way. No kind of school should be closed down. All kinds of schools should be treated equally well.

The FDP wants to keep strengthening elementary schools through its Masterplan Grundschule, focusing on reading, math and writing. It plans 3,000 social education specialists and wants to end the teacher shortage within five years by adding university places.

The FDP wants to strengthen elementary schools. Children should mainly learn reading, math and writing there. Every elementary school should get an extra social education worker. There should be more university places for future elementary teachers.

The FDP wants to implement the legal entitlement to all-day care and create at least 200,000 additional places. Binding quality standards are to apply statewide, and the federal government is to help fund this permanently.

The FDP wants more places for afternoon care at school. At least 200,000 new places should be created. All programs should follow fixed quality rules. The federal government should pay its share for the long term.

The FDP wants to support Hauptschulen, Realschulen and Sekundarschulen (non-academic-track secondary schools) with a quality drive and a special investment program. Intermediate diplomas are to gain standing and career guidance is to improve in order to secure skilled workers.

The FDP wants to strengthen the secondary schools that do not lead to the Abitur. They should get more staff and better equipment. Students should try out jobs while still at school. Job training should count as much as a university degree.

The FDP wants to expand economic education and offer economics as an advanced course everywhere. Computer science is to be put on a par with the natural sciences in the Abitur (university entrance diploma), and a nationally comparable “Deutschland-Abitur” is to be created for core subjects.

The FDP wants more economics in class. Students should also learn about stocks. Computer science should be easier to choose for the Abitur, the final school exam. The Abitur should be comparable all over Germany.

The FDP wants to create additional programs for gifted students. These include letting groups skip a grade at comprehensive schools as well, and closer cooperation between schools and universities.

The FDP wants to support gifted children better. Groups of students should be able to skip a grade at comprehensive schools too. Schools and universities should work together more. There should be more programs like the student university.

The FDP wants to gradually expand inclusive learning at mainstream schools while keeping special schools. Parents are to decide freely where their child with special needs learns; the platform treats both options as equal.

Children with special needs can learn at regular schools or at special schools. The FDP wants to strengthen both. Parents should decide which school their child attends. There should be more specialists and more advice for this.

The FDP wants to stick with in-person teaching and address the learning gaps and psychological effects of the pandemic among children and teens. Education vouchers are to be continued in order to gradually shift school funding toward the individual student.

The FDP wants schools to stay open. Children should be able to catch up on what they missed. The mental effects of the COVID period should also get attention. The FDP wants to keep using education vouchers. With a voucher, a child gets money for extra tutoring.

The FDP wants an anti-bullying campaign to better protect children and teens and to provide points of contact for those affected. Trainee teachers are to receive mandatory prevention training.

Many students are bullied at school. The FDP wants to protect them better. Students who are bullied should find places that help them. New teachers should learn how to deal with bullying and violence.

The FDP wants to resolve the teacher shortage permanently to allow smaller classes at all school types. To do so, more university places are to be created and admission restrictions for all teacher training programs removed.

There are not enough teachers, especially at elementary schools. The FDP wants more university places for future teachers. Everyone who wants to become a teacher should get a place. Then classes can become smaller.

The FDP wants every school to have fast internet, Wi-Fi and up-to-date technology, and every student and teacher to have their own device. Digital learning is to be anchored in all subjects, starting with coding in elementary school.

The FDP wants all schools to have fast internet. Every student should get their own device, such as a tablet. Parents pay a small share. Families with little money pay nothing. Children should start learning to code in elementary school.

The FDP wants a new investment program to reduce the backlog in school construction and renovation. Private school operators are to be compensated for extra space needed due to the return to the nine-year Gymnasium (G9) just as public ones are.

Many school buildings are old. The FDP wants to start a new program for school construction. It is called Gute Schule 2030. Private schools should also get money for new rooms.

The FDP seeks a new agreement with the federal government and municipalities that clearly defines responsibilities in education. The federal government is to contribute more to the costs.

The federal government, the state and the cities pay for schools together. The FDP wants new rules on who is responsible for what. The federal government should give more money for education.

The FDP wants school social work, school psychology and other specialists to be permanently established alongside teachers. School administration is also to be strengthened so teachers have more time for teaching.

Not only teachers work at schools. There are also social workers and psychologists. The FDP wants to hire more of these specialists. School offices should get more help too. Then teachers have more time for teaching.

The FDP wants more practical phases in teacher training, including a practical semester already in the bachelor's program, and an allowance for it. This is meant to reduce dropouts and keep graduates from avoiding the teaching profession.

People who want to become teachers should practice in schools earlier. There should be a practical semester in the first part of their studies. Students should get money for it. The FDP wants more students to actually become teachers later.

The FDP wants to require teachers to complete a fixed number of training hours each year. The offerings are to be coordinated statewide, supplemented digitally and opened up to private providers.

Teachers should have to take training every year. There should be a fixed number of hours for this. There should be more online courses. Private providers should also be allowed to offer courses for teachers.

The FDP wants teachers in all teaching tracks to receive the same starting pay, because it regards their training as equivalent. Chains of fixed-term contracts in schools are to be reduced and ended where possible.

Teachers at different kinds of schools earn different amounts today. The FDP wants everyone to get the same pay when they start. Teachers should less often have only temporary contracts. This should also apply to career changers.

The FDP wants to make teaching careers more flexible so that people from other professions can teach as “Praxislehrer” (practitioner teachers). In turn, trained teachers are to find it easier to leave temporarily and return later.

People from other jobs should be able to teach at schools. The FDP calls them practitioner teachers. Teachers should also be allowed to do other work for a while. Afterward they can come back to school.

The FDP wants schools to decide more for themselves on teaching, staffing and budgets. The state would focus on statewide standards, basic staffing and teacher training. The platform cites the PISA study, which it says shows that children do better at schools with more decision-making freedom.

The FDP wants to give schools more freedom. Schools should decide on teaching, staff and money themselves. The state should only set important rules for everyone. The FDP says children learn better at schools with more freedom.

The FDP wants the conference of state education ministers (KMK) to give states more freedom in shaping the school year and to rotate vacation dates among all states. North Rhine-Westphalia should be able to start summer vacation later and have a permanent Pentecost break. The platform sees the state as disadvantaged under current rules.

The German states set school vacations together. The FDP wants to change these rules. Summer vacation in North Rhine-Westphalia should be able to start later. Then a break at Pentecost is possible too. The FDP says the state is at a disadvantage today.

The FDP wants to keep supporting European and international student exchanges and school partnerships. A scholarship competition is meant to ensure that taking part does not depend on parents' income.

Students should be able to get to know other countries. The FDP wants to support exchanges and partnerships between schools. There should be scholarships. A scholarship is money for taking part. That way children from poorer families can join too.

The FDP wants to ease entry into vocational training through modular training, partial qualifications and more part-time training. Career guidance should become more youth-oriented, and open training positions should be matched better with applicants.

The FDP wants more young people to start job training. Training should be possible in parts or part-time. Career guidance at school should make young people curious about jobs. Open positions and applicants should find each other more easily.

The FDP wants to abolish school fees in all training occupations, after they were already dropped for several health professions. Every first vocational training should be possible without a financial burden. Support for continuing education and master craftsman qualifications would also grow.

Some job training programs charge school fees. The FDP wants to end these fees for all training programs. A person's first training should cost nothing. There should also be more help for further training.

The FDP wants to strengthen vocational education with an excellence initiative, digital offerings and support for gifted trainees, and to put it on par with academic education. Plans include a fully digital distance training center. Moving between vocational training and university should become easier.

The FDP wants to improve job training. Job training should count as much as a university degree. There should be a digital center for vocational school. Then trainees can learn from anywhere. Switching between job training and university should get easier.

The FDP wants to anchor digital formats that proved useful at universities during the pandemic permanently and on a sound legal basis, while keeping in-person teaching. In addition, a digital university would mainly reach people with vocational qualifications and non-traditional students.

During the pandemic, universities did a lot online. The FDP wants to keep what worked well. In-person classes should continue. There should also be a digital university. It should reach people who already have a job too.

The FDP wants to ease the transition from school to university and remove financial and psychological hurdles. BAföG (state student aid) should be applied for and processed fully digitally. Barriers for students with disabilities or chronic illness should also come down.

The FDP wants to make starting university easier. Students should be able to apply for BAföG fully online. BAföG is state money for students. People with disabilities should also be able to study more easily.

The FDP wants to turn the legally constituted student body into a voluntary one. Students would no longer become members automatically upon enrollment, but only if they actively join. The platform justifies this with more participation and control over their own study costs.

Today, students automatically belong to the student body. That is the organization that represents students. The FDP wants to change this. Students should decide for themselves whether to join. That also gives them a say over their costs.

The FDP wants to advance basic research, applied research and the transfer of knowledge into business and society. An independent institution would systematically promote knowledge transfer. More professorships would study key technologies so that the state ranks among the world's top research locations.

The FDP wants to strengthen research in the state. Knowledge from universities should reach companies and society faster. A separate institution should take care of this. There should be more professors for important new technologies.

The FDP wants more permanent positions for ongoing tasks at universities, but considers fixed-term contracts sensible during the qualification phase. Career barriers for women would be removed without additional quotas. Childcare and the tenure-track program would be expanded.

The FDP wants more permanent jobs at universities. Young researchers should still be able to have fixed-term jobs. Women should have the same chances to move up. The FDP does not want new quotas for this. There should be more childcare at universities.

The FDP wants to expand academic continuing education and open universities to working people. Digital teaching formats would be recognized and expanded, and a continuing-education fund would be tested. The aim is a more permeable education system and lifelong learning.

The FDP wants people to be able to learn all their lives. Universities should also offer courses for working people. Online courses should be recognized. A new fund should help pay for further education. A fund is a pot of money.

The FDP wants universities to be required to end external partnerships that restrict academic freedom. Cooperation with the Chinese Confucius Institutes in North Rhine-Westphalia would be critically reviewed on that basis.

Research should be free. Some university partners limit this freedom. Then universities should have to end the partnership. The FDP wants to take a close look at the Chinese Confucius Institutes in the state.

The FDP wants an "Agenda Hochschulbau" (university construction agenda) to ease investment at universities and clear the renovation backlog faster. To do so, the division of tasks among agencies, ministries and universities, which the platform sees as hampering investment, would be reorganized.

Many university buildings are old and in bad shape. The FDP wants faster building and repairs. For this, the tasks of the agencies should be divided up in a new way. Universities could also use empty buildings in city centers.

The FDP wants to bring together continuing-education courses from different providers and make them bookable on a shared online platform. A uniform certification framework is meant to ensure quality and comparability. The platform treats lifelong learning as a precondition for a self-determined life and free opinion-forming.

The FDP wants to make adult learning easier. All courses should be on one website. People can book them there. One shared certificate system should make courses easy to compare.

The FDP wants all public schools to offer Practical Philosophy as an elective alongside religious education in the long term. Within religion classes, comparing religions and teaching values are to get more room in order to foster tolerance.

The FDP wants the subject Practical Philosophy at all schools. Students can pick it instead of religion class. In religion class, students should learn more about other religions. Every student should visit a church, a mosque and a synagogue.

The FDP wants every student to visit a Nazi-era memorial site and a memorial to East German injustice during their school years. In the party's view, antisemitism is often an education problem that such visits address especially effectively.

All students should visit memorial sites. This should be required. One site should recall the Nazi era. Another should recall injustice in East Germany.

The FDP wants to expand cultural education and grow existing projects such as JeKits into a so-called 3K program. Every child would attend at least three cultural events during their school years. The party sees cultural education as a key to taking part in society.

The FDP wants every child to experience art and culture. Every child should visit at least three cultural events during school. That could be a theater or a museum, for example. This should apply to all types of schools.

The FDP wants to set up a state foundation that enables politically persecuted students from abroad to study in North Rhine-Westphalia. They are to receive a comprehensive scholarship.

In some countries young people cannot study because of their opinions. The FDP wants to help these people. A state foundation should give them money. Then they can study in NRW.

The FDP wants to make law studies in NRW more attractive and lower the dropout rate. Students are to be able to earn a Bachelor of Laws in addition to the first state examination. The two state examinations remain the requirement for becoming a judge.

The FDP wants to improve law studies in NRW. Fewer students should drop out. Students should also be able to get a bachelor's degree. The two state exams will stay.

The Greens want to establish education for sustainable development firmly across all areas of education, from daycare to senior universities. More people are to gain knowledge about protecting the environment, nature and the climate.

The Greens want everyone to learn more about nature and the climate. The topic should be part of daycare, schools and universities. Older people should be able to learn about it too. A statewide network is planned for this.

The Greens want to work with guilds and chambers to attract more people to the skilled trades. The drive covers stronger dual vocational training, new target groups, better paths for advancement and easier access for skilled workers from abroad. The background is that many master craftspeople and journeymen will soon retire.

The skilled trades need more young people. The Greens want to improve training. Apprentices should pay less for buses and trains and get dorms. The state should pay for master craftsman training like a university degree. Tradespeople from abroad should find it easier to work here.

The Greens want to tackle the shortage of skilled workers with a broad training drive. Fees for vocational training and the master craftsman certificate are to be lowered first and then phased out. Barriers for groups that have been hard to reach are to be removed, with a special focus on asylum seekers.

Many jobs lack skilled workers. The Greens want to train more people. Vocational training and the master certificate should step by step become free. Asylum seekers should be able to start training early. Degrees from abroad should be accepted more easily.

The Greens want to offer every child from age one a good place in a Kita (daycare center) or with a childminder. To do so, capacity would be expanded and staffing needs recalculated according to scientific standards.

Every child from age one should get a good daycare place. The Greens want to create more places. They want to set new rules on how many children one staff member looks after. Extra workers should help with office work and the kitchen.

The Greens want lunch in daycare centers and childminding to be free of charge and want to improve the quality of early childhood education. Centers in disadvantaged neighborhoods would get extra support so that educational opportunities are fairer from the start.

Lunch at daycare should no longer cost parents anything. Daycare centers in poorer areas should get more help. Children should have a say at daycare. The Greens also want more support for language, exercise and healthy food.

The Greens want to recruit considerably more early childhood educators by expanding training and university places and opening new routes into the profession. Working conditions and pay should reflect the responsibility the job carries.

Daycare centers lack trained staff. The Greens want to train more people for the job. People from other jobs should be able to switch to daycare work more easily. More men should become educators. Centers that train people should get more money.

The Greens want to help cities and towns renovate and modernize their school buildings. The state would not only provide loans but also help repay them. Cooperation between the federal government and the states in education would also be used for investment and additional staff.

Many school buildings need repairs. The Greens want to help cities and towns with this. The state should also help pay back the loans. The federal government and the state should work together more on schools.

The Greens want to give schools more leeway in how they teach. This includes project-based learning, alternatives to grades and more say over staffing. The stated reason is that schools know best what their students need.

Schools should be able to decide more on their own. For example, they could teach more through projects. They could also use other ways of rating work than grades. The Greens say schools know what their children need.

The Greens want digital learning to become routine at every school in North Rhine-Westphalia. All students and teachers would receive mobile devices. A five-year training drive would prepare school staff for new media.

All students and teachers should get a mobile device, such as a tablet. Learning with digital media should be normal everywhere. Teachers should get training for this. The training should run for five years.

The Greens want schools to put more weight on politics, social science and society. They would add priorities in education for sustainable development and anti-discrimination. In the platform's view, schools should strengthen democracy and help protect the environment and climate.

School should deal more with politics and society. Children should also learn more about the environment and sustainability. The Greens want this to strengthen democracy. They also want to support languages and student exchanges.

The Greens want to tackle the teacher shortage with a reform of teacher training, more routes to qualification and additional professions in schools. All teaching tracks would start at pay grade A13. Teachers would have less administrative work so that more time is left for teaching.

Many schools do not have enough teachers. The Greens want to change how teachers are trained. Other experts should also work in schools, such as social workers. All teachers should earn the same starting pay.

The Greens want to create 200,000 additional all-day school places and double funding per place to 4,000 euros. This is meant to prepare North Rhine-Westphalia for the legal entitlement in elementary school that takes effect in 2026. Binding quality standards for all-day schooling would also be set.

There are too few all-day places at elementary schools in the state. The Greens want to create 200,000 new places. Each place should get twice as much money as now. From 2026, children have a right to a place.

The Greens state the goal of making education free of fees for everyone. As an interim step, uniform statewide parent fees graded by income would apply to daycare centers, family daycare and open all-day schools, with an exemption for low earners. Free learning materials would also cover digital materials.

Education should later be free for everyone. First, parent fees should follow the same rules across the state. People who earn little should pay nothing. Digital learning materials should also be free.

The Greens want to allocate money and positions for schools according to need. A social index for each individual school would determine where additional teachers, social workers and funds go. Schools in difficult locations would receive more as a result.

Not all schools should get the same amount of money. Schools with many problems should get more. A social index should show this. It is a number that describes each school's situation.

The Greens see inclusion as a human right and a task for every type of school, guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Moving students down to a lower school type and making them repeat a grade against their will would end. Schools would get more staff, money and barrier-free spaces for this.

Children with and without disabilities should learn together. This should be possible at all schools. No child should have to repeat a grade against their will. Schools should get more staff and money for this.

The Greens want to guarantee every young person vocational training leading to a full qualification. A fund paid into by all companies would spread the cost of training. Training places outside companies would be expanded.

Every young person should be able to do vocational training. The Greens want to guarantee this. All companies should pay into a shared fund. That way, companies without trainees also carry part of the cost.

The Greens want to make it easier for trainees to move for their training. Shared dorms for learners would be built, and public transit passes for trainees would be put on par with those for university students. Trainees with insecure residence status would be protected from deportation.

Trainees should find it easier to move to another city. There should be dorms for trainees and students. The trainee transit pass should be as good as the student pass. Trainees without a secure right to stay should not be deported.

The Greens want everyone to be able to catch up on a school diploma or vocational training. Second-chance education would be strengthened, vocational colleges developed into regional centers, and continuing education permanently funded with rising budgets. For the skilled trades, a reform of master craftsman training and start-up bonuses are planned.

Adults should be able to get a school diploma later in life. There should be more courses for this, for example at adult education centers. Continuing education should get more money for the long term. It should be easier for tradespeople to become master craftsmen.

The Greens want to support first-year students in financial need with up to 1,000 euros. The Studierendenwerke (student services organizations) would get higher subsidies, including for building and renovating housing. In the party's view, the state is responsible for ensuring that university study does not fail because of financial or social barriers.

Students with little money should get up to 1,000 euros at the start. There should be more housing for students. The student services organizations should get more money for this. Semester fees should be affordable.

The Greens want to remove barriers to higher education so that everyone can study regardless of money, disability or life situation. Among other things, the state would cover the cost of materials for financially disadvantaged students and expand part-time degree programs.

The Greens want everyone to be able to study. Students with little money should get required study materials paid for. There should be more part-time degree programs. Students with disabilities should get more help.

The Greens want to improve university teaching and make it more inclusive. Attendance requirements would be dropped, the student-to-staff ratio would improve markedly, and the academic senate would gain weight relative to the university council and rectorate.

The Greens want better teaching at universities. Students should no longer be required to attend classes. There should be more teachers per student. The university senate should have more say.

The Greens want to improve working conditions at universities, which they see as a precondition for good teaching and research. The core elements are permanent posts for permanent tasks, reliable qualification paths and stronger co-determination.

The Greens want better jobs at universities. People doing ongoing work should get permanent jobs. Careers in science should be easier to plan. Staff and students should have more say.

The Greens want to fund research from North Rhine-Westphalia better, arguing that it provides answers on social problems, conflicts and climate protection. The focus is on the institutes of the Johannes-Rau-Forschungsgemeinschaft and on universities of applied sciences.

The Greens want to spend more money on research in NRW. Universities of applied sciences should be able to do more research. Professors there should have to teach less. There should also be more jobs.

The Greens want to put the civil clause back into law so that publicly funded research stays transparent and serves peaceful purposes. Peace and conflict research would receive permanent funding.

The Greens want to bring back the civil clause. This is a rule: research paid for with public money should serve peace. Research on peace and conflict should get lasting funding.

The Greens want students to be free from the start to choose whether to attend denominational religious education. Practical philosophy is to be offered everywhere as an alternative, and Islamic religious education is supported.

Children should be free to choose from first grade on. They should be able to take religion or practical philosophy. The Greens also support Islamic religion classes. Teachers for these classes should study in NRW. Later, the religions should teach together.

The SPD wants the state to cover the costs of master craftsman (Meister) training that remain after Meister-BAföG and other aid. In addition, further training and career changes are to be possible at any time, and universities are to open up to people with vocational qualifications.

The SPD wants master craftsman training to be free. The state should pay the remaining costs. People should be able to learn something new later in life. Universities should be more open to people with job training.

The SPD wants to guarantee every young person in the state an apprenticeship place. Companies that do not train are to bear the costs, while companies that do train receive support. Young people without a diploma or a training place are to be caught by additional programs.

The SPD wants a guarantee for training places. Every young person should get an apprenticeship. Companies that do not train should pay for this. Companies that train get help. Those who leave school without a diploma should get new chances.

With its "Gute Berufskollegs 2030" program, the SPD wants to renovate, modernize and digitally equip all vocational colleges. To recruit more teachers, more places to study are to be created and working conditions improved.

The SPD wants to renew all vocational colleges. These are schools for job training. They should get modern technology and enough staff. More universities should train teachers for vocational colleges.

The SPD wants apprentices to be treated the same as university students. This includes a cheaper apprentice transit ticket with better service, removing hidden training costs, and funding accessible dormitories for apprentices.

The SPD wants apprentices to be as well off as students. The transit ticket for apprentices should be cheaper and better. Hidden costs of training should go away. There should be more dorms for apprentices.

The SPD wants to give every child a right to an education guide (Bildungslotse) from birth. This person would advise and accompany children and young people along their educational path and help prevent school dropouts early on.

Every child should be able to get an education guide. This is a person who supports children with learning and school. The guide gives advice. The guide should also help stop young people from dropping out of school.

The SPD wants to make the school entry phase more flexible. Whether a child starts school earlier or later should no longer depend on the cutoff date alone but also on the assessment of parents and professionals.

Today a fixed date mostly decides when a child starts school. The SPD wants to change that. Parents, doctors and educators should have a say. A child should also be able to start school later.

The SPD wants to prepare for the legal right to an all-day school place starting in 2026 and pass an all-day school act with binding minimum standards. All-day programs are to count as education and be free for families during core hours.

From 2026, children have a right to an all-day place in elementary school. The SPD wants a law with fixed rules for this. The rules cover staff, rooms, activities and lunch. All-day school should be free during core hours.

The SPD wants to give educational institutions in socially difficult areas more staff and money. A social index would distribute funds according to local conditions; as a first step, 1,000 schools are to receive additional resources.

Some schools and daycare centers are in areas with many problems. The SPD wants to give them more money and staff. A social index should show where help is needed. At first, 1,000 schools should get more.

The SPD wants to give every child a free library card until the end of their school years. Children should have access to books and digital media regardless of their parents' finances.

Every child should get a library card. The card costs nothing. It is valid until the end of school. This way all children can get books and digital media.

The SPD wants to end canceled lessons through a staffing drive and bring more multi-professional teams into schools. All teachers are to receive the same starting salary, and the number of university places for teaching and related professions is to rise sharply.

Lessons are often canceled at schools. So the SPD wants to hire more staff. All teachers should earn the same when they start. There should be many more university places for future teachers.

The SPD wants inclusion to be part of every school and plans a pedagogical center staffed with specialists at each one. In addition, every school district is to get a rapid support group for acute cases. The platform bases this on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which it says must be upheld.

Children with disabilities should be welcome at every school. The SPD wants a center with experts at each school. The experts help the teachers. Each school district should also get a group for quick help.

The SPD wants to set up an education commission of experts to review both what is taught and how education is funded. The split of costs between the state and municipalities is to be clear and binding. A special program for building and renovating schools is to help where the need exists.

The SPD wants a group of experts on education. The group looks at what children should learn. It also looks at who pays for schools. The state and the towns should have clear rules. There should be a special program for new and repaired schools.

The SPD wants to provide more money for digital infrastructure and equipment in daycare centers and schools. IT specialists are to maintain the technology so that teachers are relieved and can focus on teaching media literacy. The basics of information technology are to be taught in all types of schools.

Daycare centers and schools should get better digital technology. The SPD wants to spend more money on this. Computer experts should take care of the technology. Teachers then have more time for teaching. All schools should teach the basics of computer technology.

The SPD wants to expand the state program "Kein Abschluss ohne Anschluss" (no graduation without a next step) and introduce a guarantee of a vocational training place in North Rhine-Westphalia. Career guidance and hands-on teaching are to get more room in lower secondary school. The goal is that no one leaves school without a next step.

All young people should have training or another next step after school. The SPD wants to guarantee a training place. Schools should offer more practical lessons. Students should get to know jobs earlier.

The SPD wants to strengthen universities and universities of applied sciences as the core of the research system and to promote the arrival of further non-university research institutes. Applied research in particular is to get more funding and more room. This is meant to help the state compete for researchers.

The SPD wants to strengthen research in the state. Universities should get better conditions. New research institutes should come to the state. Professors at universities of applied sciences should have to teach less. Then they have more time for research.

The SPD wants academic staff who hold a doctorate to be employed on permanent contracts as a rule. Doctoral candidates and student assistants are to get better contract and pay conditions. The platform argues that permanent tasks require permanent positions.

Many researchers only have short-term contracts. The SPD wants to change that. People with a doctorate should usually get a permanent job. Students who work at the university should also get better contracts.

The SPD wants to fund the Studierendenwerke (student services organizations) so that they can do their job and semester fees can fall. The state is also to invest in building and renovating student housing. In the platform's view, fewer money worries lead to more success in education.

Student services run cafeterias, dorms and counseling. The SPD wants to give them more money. Then the fees for students can go down. The state should also build and repair student dorms.

The SPD wants to keep university study free of tuition and open universities to young people from families with little money. A state program is to support young women academics, and a research network is to study social inequality. The party wants access to academia not to depend on social background.

Studying should stay free of tuition. Young people from poor families should also be able to study. The SPD wants a special program to support women in research. Researchers should study why inequality exists.

The SPD wants the four status groups at universities to be equally represented on all university bodies. The platform argues that universities get better when everyone shapes them together.

Universities have four groups. These are professors, academic staff, technical and office staff, and students. The SPD wants all four groups to have an equal say. Each group should have the same number of seats on the committees.

The SPD rejects mandatory attendance and a maximum length of study. Students should be able to shape their studies themselves, especially those with children, care duties or chronic illness. Digital equipment, digital administration and early certification of acquired skills are meant to help.

Students live very different lives. Some have children or are ill. So the SPD does not want required attendance. It also does not want a fixed time limit for studying. Universities should have better digital equipment.

The SPD wants to renovate university buildings, modernize them for energy efficiency and make them accessible. Beyond that, campus development is to receive lasting support because teaching is changing and needs new kinds of space.

Many university buildings are old. The SPD wants to repair them. The buildings should use less energy. People with disabilities should be able to get everywhere. The campus should be a good place to learn, work and live.

The SPD wants to push for a new National Education Council. This permanent body is to work out shared goals and measures for the German education system, independently of the Kultusministerkonferenz (the standing conference of state education ministers).

The SPD wants an education council for all of Germany. People from practice and from research work together there. They think about shared goals for schools and education. They make their results public.

The SPD wants civic education anchored from daycare through school to adult education and plans to bring back the school subject of social sciences. The state agency for civic education would get more resources, and every young person should visit a memorial site once.

Children and adults should learn more about politics. This should start in daycare. The school subject social sciences should come back. The state agency for civic education should get more money. Every young person should visit a memorial site once.