What do the parties in Thuringia say on education?

The AfD wants to keep sex education out of kindergarten and elementary school and sees it primarily as the parents' task. In kindergarten teaching, it rejects content it calls early sexualization, such as addressing queer ways of life.

The AfD wants no sex education in kindergarten and elementary school. It says this is first a job for parents. Kindergarten should be about playing and learning. The party rejects topics like queer ways of life there.

The AfD wants a tiered school system that separates students by ability, with high standards in every school type. The Gymnasium (academic high school) should again focus on preparing students for university, and the party rejects what it sees as excessive academization.

The AfD wants different kinds of schools for different talents. Standards should be high in all schools. The Gymnasium should prepare students for university. The AfD thinks too many students go to the Gymnasium.

The AfD wants to put the Regelschule (Thuringia's non-academic secondary school) at the center of the school system, with more hands-on lessons and career guidance. All schools should give grades for behavior, participation and orderliness from second grade on.

The AfD wants to strengthen the Regelschule. That is a type of secondary school in Thuringia. It should offer more practical lessons. Students should do internships at local companies. All schools should grade behavior, participation and orderliness.

The AfD wants to preserve the network of Förderschulen (special-needs schools) across Thuringia and give parents a right to have their child taught there. It calls inclusion under the current school law a mistake and demands inclusion with a sense of proportion.

The AfD wants to keep special-needs schools in Thuringia. Parents should have the right to send their child there. The AfD thinks the school law pushes joint classes too hard. Children with disabilities should get good support.

The AfD wants to preserve the network of vocational schools, especially in rural areas, and draw more young people into dual vocational training. Advanced vocational qualifications for master craftsmen, technicians and business specialists should be free of charge.

The AfD wants to keep vocational schools, especially in the countryside. More young people should do vocational training. Training to become a master craftsman or technician should cost nothing. People who get this support should stay in Thuringia longer.

The AfD rejects expanding compulsory all-day schools. It prefers half-day schools with voluntary afternoon care, arguing that the compulsory model intrudes too far into parents' decisions.

The AfD does not want mandatory all-day schools. Lessons should take place in the morning. In the afternoon there should be voluntary care. Parents should decide for themselves.

The AfD wants minimum enrollment rules applied flexibly so that small rural schools can stay open. Independent schools should be funded well enough to pay teachers like state schools do without charging high parent fees.

The AfD wants to keep small schools in the countryside. Children should go to school close to home. Independent schools should get enough money from the state. Children from poor families should also be able to attend them.

The AfD demands that school staff be penalized for breaches of political neutrality. Programs it regards as politically motivated should not take place in schools, including the "Bildungsplan bis 18 Jahre" (education plan up to age 18) and related teacher training.

The AfD says schools must be politically neutral. Teachers should not put down any party. Those who break the rule should face consequences. The AfD also wants no political programs in schools.

The AfD wants to prohibit gender-inclusive language in Thuringia's schools. It argues that such texts are often grammatically wrong and make learning harder for students.

The AfD wants to ban gender-inclusive language in schools. This kind of language uses special word forms for women and men. The AfD says such texts are often wrong. It says they make learning harder.

The AfD rejects Islamic religious instruction in Thuringia's schools as long as questions of separating it from political Islam remain open. Sex education should not take place in kindergarten or elementary school but only during puberty.

The AfD does not want Islamic lessons in Thuringia's schools. It says political Islam does not fit with a secular state. Sex education should start only at puberty. It should not happen in kindergarten or elementary school.

The AfD wants sex education in schools to be taught solely by teachers. Outside providers and project-based formats would no longer be allowed. Schools are to promote an approach that presents having a child of one's own as something natural.

The AfD wants to change sex education in schools. Only teachers should teach it. People from outside should no longer do this. Schools should show that having your own child is a good thing.

The AfD wants school grades to be mandatory from second grade onward and wants students to be able to repeat any grade level. According to the platform, the performance principle should apply consistently at every level. The special tenth-grade assessment at Gymnasium schools is to be kept.

The AfD wants grades starting in second grade. Students should be able to repeat any school year. The tenth-grade exam at Gymnasium schools should stay. The AfD says children need clear feedback on their work.

The AfD wants to revise school curricula and set fixed content requirements for every subject. Elementary school should center on reading, writing and arithmetic, and cursive handwriting should be taught as a requirement. It rejects the “reading through writing” method and digital devices in elementary schools.

The AfD wants new curricula. They should say exactly what children learn in each subject. Elementary school children should learn cursive handwriting. There should be no tablets or computers in elementary schools.

The AfD wants the state to give municipalities and school operators enough funding to renovate school buildings and keep equipment up to date. It also wants binding quality standards for school lunches.

Many schools in Thuringia are in bad shape. The AfD wants the state to give towns more money for this. Schools should also have good equipment. There should also be fixed rules for healthy school lunches.

The AfD wants children without sufficient German to be taught in preparatory classes first. Only after a mandatory assessment would they move into regular classes or vocational schools. According to the platform, regular lessons are not the right place for learning the language.

Some children from abroad do not speak German yet. The AfD wants to teach them in separate classes first. They learn German there. Then there is a test. Only after that do they join a regular class.

The AfD wants to give school authorities and teachers tools to respond quickly to violence and disruptive behavior. The class's right to undisturbed lessons should count for more than one individual's schooling.

The AfD wants faster action against violence in schools. Teachers and authorities should get simple tools for this. The class should be able to learn in peace. That should matter more than lessons for one disruptive student.

The AfD wants to keep and expand Thuringia's specialized Gymnasium schools for sports, languages and music. All students with the relevant talent should be able to attend them. In addition, every school should offer support for gifted students.

Thuringia has special high schools for sports, languages and music. The AfD wants to keep these schools and expand them. Talented students should be able to learn there. Other schools should also offer help for very gifted children.

The AfD wants digital media used in class with a sense of proportion and rejects replacing teachers with technology. It considers a ban on artificial intelligence in schools unrealistic. Instead, students and teachers should learn to deal with it critically.

The AfD wants computers in class to be used in moderation. Technology should not replace teachers. The AfD does not want to ban programs like ChatGPT in schools. Students should learn what these programs can and cannot do.

The AfD wants teacher demand and canceled lessons to be recorded openly and wants to relieve teachers of paperwork. To counter the teacher shortage, it proposes faster hiring, more university places, a scholarship and a new teacher training college.

Thuringia does not have enough teachers. The AfD wants an exact count of how many are missing. Assistants should take office work off teachers' hands. There should be more university places for future teachers. The AfD also wants to found a new college for teachers.

The AfD wants to strengthen Thuringia's universities and withdraw political support from what it calls left-wing identity politics. In its view, this movement politicizes research and teaching and endangers academic freedom.

The AfD wants to strengthen universities in Thuringia. It says left-wing groups bring too much politics into universities. It says this harms the freedom of research and teaching. The AfD wants to stop supporting this kind of politics.

The AfD wants to abolish gender studies at Thuringia's universities. It regards the field as ideologically driven and denies that it is a real science.

The AfD wants no gender studies at universities in Thuringia. Gender studies looks at the roles of the sexes. The AfD says it is not real science. So the subject should be dropped.

The AfD wants students to no longer be automatic members of their university's official student body. In its view, the student bodies' committees use their position for one-sided left-wing politics.

Today all students are members of the student body. That is the group that speaks for students at a university. The AfD wants to end this duty. It says these groups do one-sided left-wing politics.

The AfD wants to give universities more independence and adequate base funding. Accreditation of degree programs would be dropped, and universities would again be allowed to offer Diplom and Magister programs. German would be promoted as a language of teaching and research.

The AfD wants to give universities more freedom and enough money. Universities should be allowed to offer Diplom and Magister again. These are older German degrees. Students should pick their degree themselves. German should stay important at universities.

The AfD wants to charge tuition fees to students from countries outside the EU. It justifies this with high dropout rates and the claim that many leave Thuringia after graduating. The revenue would benefit research and teaching.

Students from countries outside the EU should pay for their studies. The AfD says many of them drop out. Many leave Thuringia afterward. The universities should get the money.

The AfD wants training in non-academic health professions to stay free of school fees. In addition, trainee Heilerziehungspfleger (disability care workers) should get substantial financial relief to attract more recruits.

People training as elder care nurses or physical therapists no longer pay school fees in Thuringia. The AfD wants it to stay that way. Trainees in disability care should also pay less. This should bring more young people into these jobs.

The AfD wants schools to teach regional culture and its history thoroughly. Public music and art schools should receive adequate funding. Musically gifted children should be supported regardless of their social background.

Children should learn a lot about Thuringia's culture at school. Music schools and art schools should get enough money. Gifted children should get support. This also goes for children from poor families.

The AfD wants sports and exercise built more firmly into daily life at kindergartens and schools and calls for a daily exercise hour. It cites a lack of physical activity among children, which it says COVID measures made worse, and wants to rule out future bans on sports.

Many children do not move enough. The AfD wants one hour of exercise in school every day. Kindergartens should also do more sports. Sports bans like during COVID should never happen again.

The BSW wants mandatory German tests for all children from age three. If gaps are found, attending daycare or preschool should become compulsory. It also wants a binding kindergarten curriculum and compulsory preschool education for all children.

All children aged three and up should take a German test. This should be required. If a child's German is weak, daycare becomes required. Kindergartens should get a set study plan.

The BSW wants primary schools to focus again on reading, writing, and arithmetic and on the rules of standard German, including a ban on gender-inclusive language. Smartphones and tablets should be kept out of classrooms through the end of primary school. Thuringia should become the first state where all primary school leavers master these skills.

The BSW wants kids to learn reading, writing, and math well. Gender-inclusive language should be banned in schools. Phones and tablets should stay out of primary classrooms. Kids should learn proper cursive writing.

The BSW considers switching school types after fourth grade too early and wants children to learn together longer. At the same time, it wants to keep the tiered school system and boost the Regelschule (secondary school) and the intermediate diploma. Creative, artistic, and musical learning should be promoted.

Children should learn together for longer. The BSW thinks switching schools after grade 4 is too early. Different school types should still exist. The Regelschule should get stronger.

The BSW wants free lunch for all children in daycare centers and primary schools. The demand applies regardless of parents' income.

All kids in daycare and primary school should get free lunch. This should apply to every child. Parents' income does not matter.

The BSW wants a binding, practice-oriented curriculum for teacher training degrees. Thuringia should become an attractive employer for teachers, with promotions and career paths. More staff, more funding, and less paperwork should prevent canceled classes.

Teachers should get better training. Their degree should follow a fixed plan. Teachers should get promoted more easily. More staff should help so no classes get canceled.

The BSW wants to strengthen inclusive education and provide enough staff so that children with disabilities can attend regular classes. Children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia or dyscalculia should be supported through a statewide network of therapists.

Kids with disabilities should be able to join regular classes. This needs more staff. Some kids struggle with reading or math. They should get more therapy options.

The BSW wants to keep special-needs schools and give support centers more lasting backing. New tools are meant to help people with disabilities move into vocational training and the regular job market, partly to address labor shortages.

The BSW wants to keep special-needs schools. Support centers should get more help. People with disabilities should find training more easily. They should also find regular jobs more easily. This should also help with missing skilled workers.

The BSW wants practical digital and media literacy to carry more weight in teaching after primary school. New teaching concepts and up-to-date technology are to be brought into schools for this purpose.

Children should know how to use computers and media well. They should learn more about this after primary school. This needs new ways of teaching. Schools should also get modern equipment.

The BSW wants to combine education and science in a single ministry and to maintain and expand the research landscape. Mandatory permanent full-time positions are to be created for ongoing tasks at universities, since the program sees many mid-level academic jobs as precarious.

Education and science should be in one ministry. The BSW wants to make research in Thuringia stronger. Many university staff only have short contracts. Permanent tasks should get permanent full-time jobs. Young researchers could then plan better.

The CDU wants young people to leave school with a qualification that prepares them for vocational training. To get there, fewer lessons should be canceled, hands-on learning should be established in all types of schools, and career guidance should be expanded.

The CDU wants all young people to finish school with a diploma. With it, they should be ready for job training. Schools should offer more hands-on learning. Students should also learn everyday skills, like handling money. They should get to know different jobs better.

The CDU wants to keep vocational schools across the whole state so that young people can train near where they live and do not move away. To this end, the schools are to be digitized and cross-regional school networks set up.

The CDU wants to keep vocational schools everywhere in the state. Young people should be able to train close to home. That way they should stay in Thuringia. The schools should get more digital technology. There should also be a digital vocational school.

The CDU wants to treat vocational training and university study as equal in value. Trainees are to receive the same offers as students, such as a youth transit ticket and dormitory places, and moving between vocational and academic paths should become easier.

The CDU says job training is worth as much as a university degree. Trainees should get the same offers as students. These include a cheap transit ticket and places in dorms. High schools should also promote job training.

The CDU wants to turn Thuringia into a "land of master craftsmen" and make master craftsman training free. The existing Meisterbonus (a bonus for completed master qualifications) is also to be extended to other advanced vocational qualifications such as technician.

The CDU wants training to become a master craftsman to cost nothing. Today there is already a bonus for new masters. Others should get this bonus too, for example technicians. This should make moving up in a job more attractive.

The CDU wants to improve staffing in kindergartens: one educator is to be responsible for six children aged one to three and for twelve older children. To meet staffing needs, more training places are to be created and the profession made more attractive.

Kindergartens should have more staff. One educator should care for six small children. For older children, it should be twelve children. Training should be shorter. Educators should have less paperwork.

The CDU wants to keep the school system with several types of schools and give all of them, including independent schools, equal opportunities to develop. Instead of debates about structure, transitions between school types are to be made easier and schools given more autonomy.

There should still be different types of schools. All types should get equally good chances. Small elementary schools in rural areas should stay. Switching between school types should get easier. Schools should decide more for themselves.

The CDU wants to keep special-needs schools across the state and end what it sees as their gradual phase-out. Parents alone are to decide whether their child attends a special-needs school or inclusive classes at a mainstream school.

Special-needs schools are for children who need extra support. The CDU wants to keep these schools everywhere. Parents should choose for themselves. Their child can go to a special-needs school or a regular school. Both should get enough staff and materials.

The CDU wants to abolish fees for after-school care (Hort) at schools and give every child starting school 250 euros for school supplies. This is meant to relieve families and make all-day programs accessible to all children.

After-school care at schools should be free. Then all children can be cared for in the afternoon. Every child gets 250 euros when starting school. The money is for school supplies. The CDU wants to ease the burden on families.

The CDU wants to invest in schools' digital equipment through a special funding program. From fifth grade on, every student is to have a digital device, either their own or a loaned one.

Schools should get modern technology. The CDU plans a special funding program for this. From grade 5, every student should have a device. Those without one get a loaned device. Classroom teaching and handwriting stay important.

The CDU wants to introduce mandatory language tests at school enrollment and initially teach children with insufficient German in separate support classes. The platform treats good German skills as a prerequisite for education and integration.

Before school, every child should take a language test. The test is required. Children who know too little German first go to a German support class. There they learn better German. The CDU says German is important for school and integration.

The CDU wants to reintroduce school grades from second grade, conduct grades for behavior and work habits, and promotion decisions at every grade level. In elementary school, the focus is to be on reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Children should get grades again from grade 2. There should also be grades for behavior and effort. At the end of each school year, it is decided whether a child moves up. Elementary school should teach more German and math.

The CDU wants to keep the Besondere Leistungsfeststellung (BLF), a special exam in 10th grade at Gymnasium schools. At the same time, its design and effectiveness are to be reviewed. The guiding rule is that no school certificate should be awarded without an exam.

Students at Gymnasium schools take a special exam in 10th grade. The CDU wants to keep this exam. But it wants to check whether the exam works well. It says: no certificate without an exam.

The CDU wants to promote interest in math, computer science, natural sciences and technology and allow more practical phases in all types of schools. A statewide "Tag in der Praxis" (day of practical experience) is meant to improve career orientation. Media and digital skills are also to be taught more.

The CDU wants to strengthen subjects like math, computer science and technology. Students should learn more by doing. There should be a practice day everywhere in the state. On that day, students get to know jobs. Students should also learn how to use media well.

The CDU wants to secure denominational religious education as a required elective. Schools are also to teach democracy and values more strongly. An overall concept for the culture of remembrance is meant to promote engagement with history.

The CDU wants to keep religion classes in schools. Schools should also teach values and democracy. Students should learn more about history. There will be a plan for that. The CDU wants to support visits to historic places.

The CDU wants to end class cancellations by staffing every school with 105 percent of the teachers it needs. Teachers are to be relieved of red tape. Additional professionals are to work at schools in multi-professional teams.

The CDU wants no more canceled classes. Every school should get a few more teachers than it needs on paper. Teachers should have less paperwork. Other trained staff should help at schools.

The CDU wants to refill every teaching position that becomes vacant and simplify hiring. A system of career advancement, bonuses and promotions is meant to reward performance. Trainee teachers are to get an early job guarantee, and career changers are to be better prepared.

The CDU wants to fill all open teacher jobs again. Schools should be able to hire teachers faster. Good work should pay off for teachers. Young teachers should get a firm job offer early. People from other jobs should become teachers more easily.

The CDU wants to abolish admission limits for teacher training degrees and reduce the number of dropouts. Universities of applied sciences are to take part in teacher training in the future. Training is to remain separated by type of school.

The CDU wants to change how teachers are trained. Everyone should be able to study teaching without entry limits. Fewer students should drop out. Universities of applied sciences should also train teachers. Teachers should still train for one type of school.

The CDU wants to change the higher education act to secure autonomy and academic freedom. The civil clause, which commits research to civilian purposes, is to be dropped again. Rules on co-determination are to be based solely on the university's tasks and academic freedom.

The CDU wants to change the law for universities. Universities should decide for themselves. The civil clause should go. This rule says research should serve only civilian purposes. Researchers should work freely and without fear.

The CDU wants to continue the current funding system for universities, with a fixed annual increase and a strategy and innovation budget, in framework agreement VI. Major cost changes are to be taken into account more easily. At the same time, universities are to tap additional sources of income.

Universities get money from the state. The money rises by a fixed share each year. The CDU wants to keep it that way. If costs rise sharply, more money should come more easily. Universities should also raise more money themselves.

The CDU wants at least half of the non-professorial academic staff positions at universities to be permanent. For professors, hurdles in appointment procedures are to fall and pay is to become competitive compared with other states.

Many staff at universities only have temporary contracts. The CDU wants to change that. At least half should have permanent jobs. Professors should be paid better. Hiring them should become easier.

The CDU wants to attract more students with a "Campus Thüringen," more marketing and practice-oriented degree formats. Universities of applied sciences are to get their own right to award doctorates. BAföG student aid applications and the Thoska student card are to go digital, and exchange with Europe is to grow.

Fewer people are studying in Thuringia. The CDU wants to change that. Universities should work together more closely. Universities of applied sciences should be allowed to award doctorates. Student aid forms should be fully digital. More young people should be able to go abroad.

The Left announces a push for education without fees, ranging from nursery to adult education. According to the platform, the goal is for everyone to be able to have a say.

The Left wants education to cost nothing. That should start in nursery. It should also apply to courses for adults. This way everyone can take part in discussions.

The Left wants to extend educational leave to small businesses and apprentices and launch a comprehensive strategy for continuing education. Employees are to be able to gain new qualifications with time and financial security as the world of work changes.

Workers should be able to learn new skills more easily. Small companies should also give five days off for this. This should apply to apprentices too. People who study longer should keep getting paid.

The Left wants to amend the Basic Law so that the federal government permanently co-finances education. The party considers temporary programs that can be cut to be insufficient.

The Left wants to change the constitution. The federal government should pay for education permanently. Today there are often only short-term programs. The party thinks this is too uncertain.

The Left wants to improve the staff-to-child ratio in kindergartens and recruit more staff to do so. The platform sees better pay and working conditions as key.

The Left wants to make kindergartens better. There should be more staff per child. For this, childcare workers should get better pay. Kindergarten heads should also get more time.

The Left wants to gradually make meals in kindergartens and schools free of charge. The food should be regional and healthy and come more often from municipal kitchens.

The Left wants free meals in kindergartens and schools. This should come step by step. The food should be healthy and come from the region. Towns should run more kitchens of their own.

The Left wants to tackle the teacher shortage with many measures and, in the medium term, plan for more staff than is mathematically required. The benchmark should be the needs of schools, not a comparison with other states.

Thuringia does not have enough teachers. The Left wants to hire more of them. There should even be a bit more staff than needed. Then schools can replace teachers who are sick. The jobs should be permanent.

The Left wants to scrap the special performance assessment at Gymnasium (academic high school) and instead award the intermediate school certificate automatically upon promotion to grade 11. It also wants to advance alternatives to numerical grades.

At academic high schools there is a special exam after grade 10. The Left wants to end this exam. Students who move on to grade 11 should get the intermediate certificate automatically. The party also wants fewer number grades. Sports, music and art should have no grades at all.

The Left wants to develop an overall plan for language support for children whose first language is not German. The support is to take place within regular classes and help with integration into society.

Some children do not speak German at home. The Left wants a plan to help them learn German. The children should learn in regular classes. Special teachers for German should help them.

The Left wants every school to have a media plan and critical use of social media to be taught from the start of schooling. Learning materials, both print and digital, are to be freely accessible.

The Left wants every school to have a plan for media. Children should learn early how to deal with social media. Textbooks and digital learning materials should cost nothing. The state should help with the technology.

The Left wants to train teachers by grade level in the future rather than by school type. This is meant to strengthen longer shared learning and the Gemeinschaftsschule (comprehensive community school).

Today teachers train for one type of school. The Left wants to change that. Teachers should train for certain grade levels instead. The training should also include more practice.

The Left wants to strengthen the Gemeinschaftsschule (comprehensive community school) and sees it as Thuringia's main school type in the long run. The party regards longer shared learning as key to educational success and equal opportunity.

In community schools, children learn together for a long time. The Left wants to strengthen this type of school. Later it should be the most important school type in Thuringia. The party says this gives all children better chances.

The Left wants to abolish parental fees for after-school care and extend all-day offerings to grades 5 and 6. The party sees all-day schools everywhere as the path to equal opportunity.

The Left wants parents to pay nothing for after-school care. Children in grades 5 and 6 should get all-day programs too. Every school should have school social work if possible. This should give all children equal chances.

The Left wants to further expand joint teaching of children with and without disabilities. To do so, it relies on good equipment, further training and more special education staff.

Children with and without disabilities should learn together. This is called inclusion. The Left wants to expand it further. For this there should be more special education experts. Special needs centers should stay.

The Left wants to conclude a new framework agreement with the universities under which their funding rises by at least four percent every year. This is meant to secure core funding beyond 2025.

The Left wants to give universities more money. Each year it should be at least 4 percent more. For this there should be a new agreement with the universities. It should apply from 2025.

The Left wants to scrap the fees charged to long-term students as well as other study-related fees. The state would make up the lost revenue for the universities. The goal is study in Thuringia that is as free and fee-free as possible.

People who study for a very long time must pay fees in Thuringia. The Left wants to end these fees. Other fees for studying should also go. The state should give the universities the missing money.

The Left wants the federal government to contribute permanently to the basic funding of universities. University construction should again be listed in the Basic Law as a joint task of the federal and state governments. An additional social pact for higher education would bring money for student services.

The Left wants more federal money for universities. The federal government should pay permanently, and the amount should rise regularly. It should also help build university buildings. And it should give money for dorms and cafeterias.

The Left wants to continue and expand the "StudiumThüringenPlus" funding program. It pays first-year students who qualify for BAföG (federal student aid) 500 euros for equipment. Social work at universities and a service app for students are to be added.

In Thuringia some students get 500 euros when they start. The money is for computers, books or language classes. The Left wants to keep this program and make it bigger. Applying should become easier. There should also be more counseling and an app for students.

The Left wants to make the move from school to university easier and more flexible. The numerus clausus (grade-based admission limit) is to be debated again for individual subjects, and qualifications other than grades should count more. Barriers for people with vocational qualifications, people with disabilities and refugees are to come down.

Some subjects need very good grades to get in. The Left wants to talk about this rule again. Other skills should count too. People with job training should find it easier to study. The same goes for people with disabilities and for refugees.

The Left wants to push at the federal level for a fundamental overhaul of BAföG (federal student aid). The aid should reach all students and protect them from poverty.

BAföG is money from the state for students. The Left wants to change BAföG a lot. All students should get support. The money should be enough to live on.

The Left rejects tying universities even more closely to third-party grants if that weakens their basic funding. In its view, competing for research money costs time and leads to insecure jobs. It wants to keep the transparency register, the civil clause and open access.

Researchers often have to apply for outside money. That takes a lot of time. The Left does not want more of this. Universities should get enough fixed money. Research should be open and free to read.

The Left wants a collective bargaining agreement for student employees and more permanent positions at universities. Adjunct teaching contracts should be used only to bring practical knowledge into teaching. In the program's view, staff need job security for teaching and research to succeed.

Many people at universities only have short contracts. The Left wants more permanent jobs. Students who work at the university should get a union contract. A union contract sets pay and contract length for everyone. Teachers without a permanent job should also have more say.

The Left wants to set up a professorship in pluralist economics along with a research institute. Another chair would deal with colonialism, migration, racism and antisemitism. Universities of applied sciences are to get the right to award doctorates.

The Left wants new professorships in Thuringia. One should teach other views of the economy. Another should do research on racism, refugees and hatred of Jews. Applied universities should be allowed to award doctorates themselves.

The Left wants to reform the adult education law and strengthen the basic funding of providers. One percent of the education budget would be set aside for adult education. A training bonus for low earners and mobile offerings in rural areas would be added.

Adults should also be able to keep learning. The Left wants to give more fixed money for this. People with low incomes should get money for further training. In rural areas there should be online classes and an education bus. Reading and writing classes should be expanded.

The SPD wants to attract more skilled staff for daycare centers and social professions. Training is to be free of school fees, recognition internships paid everywhere, and educators paid statewide under the public-sector collective agreement.

The SPD wants more trained staff for daycare centers. Training should no longer cost school fees. Internships during training should be paid. All educators should be paid by the union wage scale. This applies to all providers.

The SPD wants school social work offered according to need in all Thuringian municipalities and its quality strengthened. The amount of state funding is to be fixed by law and adjusted annually so that youth welfare offices and independent providers can plan.

Schools all over Thuringia should have social workers. The state should pay a fixed amount for this. The amount should be written into a law. It should rise every year. This helps offices and providers plan better.

The SPD wants to continue moving toward an inclusive school system in which children with and without disabilities learn together. To that end, schools are to receive staff, space and equipment, and all teachers are to receive relevant training.

Children with and without disabilities should learn together. Schools need more staff and suitable rooms for this. All teachers should get training on it. Teams from different professions should work at schools.

The SPD wants to include sexual orientation and gender identity as a topic in Thuringia's curriculum and have suitable teaching materials developed. Education professionals are to receive mandatory training on this.

Schools should talk about different ways of loving and living. The SPD wants to write this into the curriculum. There should be suitable teaching material. Teachers and child care workers should get required training on it.

The SPD wants to amend Thuringia's educational leave law so that all employees can take Bildungsurlaub (paid educational leave), no matter how large their company is. Apprentices are to get the full five days. The party bases this on the idea of lifelong learning.

Educational leave is time off work for learning. The SPD wants it for all workers. The size of the company should not matter. Apprentices should get the full 5 days. Companies should get money for training their staff.

The SPD wants children to learn together from first grade on, without changing schools where possible. Merging schools into Gemeinschaftsschulen (community schools) is to become the general principle. The platform sees this as the path to a socially fair school system.

The SPD wants one school for all children. Children should learn together for a long time, starting in first grade. They should not have to change schools if possible. For this, schools should merge into community schools.

The SPD wants to give schools more decisions of their own and a lump-sum budget. The regional school offices are to get more staff and powers, and the state school advisory council is to receive its own right of initiative.

The SPD wants schools to decide more on their own. Each school gets a fixed budget. The regional school offices get more staff and more rights. The state school council may start its own proposals. This council advises the ministry.

The SPD wants to hire administrative assistants at every school so that principals and teachers can focus on teaching. In addition, an annual working-time model is to define which tasks belong to the teaching profession.

Teachers should do less office work. The SPD wants to hire office staff at every school. They handle things like forms and statistics. A new working-time model should make clear what belongs to a teacher's job.

The SPD wants to create a single teaching qualification for lower and upper secondary level so that teachers can work at different school types. To tackle the teacher shortage, the program also provides for a hiring guarantee, civil-servant status for students in shortage subjects and continued use of career changers.

Thuringia does not have enough teachers. The SPD wants to change teacher training. Teachers should be able to work at several types of school. Trainee teachers who pass their exams get a job for sure. Students of shortage subjects get paid by the state during their studies.

The SPD wants lessons to start no earlier than 9 a.m. It bases this on young people's biorhythm and also wants to shorten class periods.

The SPD wants school to start no earlier than 9 a.m. It says young people learn worse early in the morning. Class periods should also be shorter. They should last 45 to 60 minutes at most.

The SPD wants to replace grades up to 4th grade with individual assessments and development talks. It also wants the law to state that the school is responsible for each child's learning success.

There should be no more grades up to 4th grade. Instead there are written assessments and talks. The SPD says grades put needless pressure on young children. The school should be responsible for each child's learning success.

The SPD wants to establish all-day schools across Thuringia, with lessons, leisure and support alternating throughout the day. Teams of teachers and other educational specialists are to work at all schools.

The SPD wants all-day schools across Thuringia. Lessons, free time and support should alternate during the day. After-school care alone is not enough for the SPD. Other specialists should work at every school alongside teachers.

The SPD wants to equip schools with gigabit connections and digital technology and extend free learning materials to digital devices. Digital education is to be anchored in teacher training and in the curricula.

The SPD wants fast internet at all schools. Digital devices should be free for students, like textbooks. Teachers should learn more about digital teaching. Lessons should deal more often with social media.

The SPD rejects cuts to civics classes and wants to expand the subject. It cites the rise of right-wing and far-right forces as the reason and wants all curricula geared toward promoting democracy.

The SPD wants more civics classes in schools. It rejects cuts. In civics, children learn how democracy works. All other subjects should also strengthen democracy.

The SPD wants to restructure the school conference so that students make up half of its members. Student representatives are also to get voting rights in class and subject conferences.

Students should have more say. They should get half the seats in the school conference. The school conference decides on important school matters. Students should also be allowed to vote in other conferences.

The SPD wants to subsidize affordable housing for apprentices, modernize training facilities and keep vocational school sites across the state. The transition from school to training is to be eased through more counseling and new school formats.

Apprentices should get affordable housing. Vocational schools should stay close by. The SPD is against bundling training in a few places. Young people should get more help when starting an apprenticeship.

The SPD wants to push at the federal level for stronger BAföG (federal student aid) so that studying does not depend on parents' income. In Thuringia, BAföG applications are to be processed within three months.

BAföG is money from the state for students. The SPD wants more BAföG. It wants to push for this at the federal level. Applications should be finished within three months. More people from families without a degree should be able to study.

The SPD wants to scrap the fees charged to long-term students at Thuringian universities. Students who exceed the standard period of study should neither be removed from enrollment nor denied a dormitory place for that reason.

People who study for a long time must pay fees in Thuringia. The SPD wants to end these fees. The SPD says many students have to work on the side. Students who need longer should keep their place. They should also be allowed to live in a dorm.

The SPD wants to give universities base funding that rises with costs and to increase the student services organization's funding every year. At the federal level it backs a social pact for higher education that secures housing and low cafeteria prices.

Universities should get enough money from the state. The money should rise with costs. The student services organization should also get more money each year. It runs dorms and cafeterias. This should keep housing and food cheap for students.

The SPD wants to guarantee the core funding of Thuringia's universities until at least 2030 and raise it every year. In addition, a renovation program for university buildings is to be set up.

The SPD wants to give universities secure money until at least 2030. The money should grow a little every year. University buildings should also be repaired. There should be a plan for this until 2030.

The SPD wants more permanent employment at universities and more predictable careers for early-career researchers. It also wants a higher share of women among professors and in university leadership.

The SPD wants better jobs at universities. People who do a lasting task should get a permanent job. Young researchers should be able to plan their careers better. More women should become professors or lead universities.

The SPD wants to strengthen applied research at universities of applied sciences. Research-strong areas or alliances of several institutions are to be allowed to award doctorates themselves, provided they meet high quality standards.

The SPD wants to strengthen research at universities of applied sciences. Some areas there do a lot of research. These areas should be allowed to award doctorates. They must ensure high quality to do so.

The SPD wants to strengthen adult education as the fourth pillar of the education system. Basic education courses are to be available everywhere in the state and be accessible, and catching up on a school diploma is to remain free of charge.

The SPD wants to strengthen learning for adults. There should be reading and writing courses everywhere in Thuringia. People who catch up on a school diploma should not have to pay. There should also be more courses for older people.

The SPD wants to give sports and physical activity more weight in daycare centers, schools and youth facilities. Existing projects are to be merged into a broader state program promoting exercise for children and young people.

Children should move more in daycare and at school. The SPD wants a state program for this. Daycare teachers should learn more about exercise. Sports teachers should also get better training for it.