SPD Demands Revisions to Federal Childcare Plans

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Saxon state parliament is demanding changes to federal plans for childcare facilities, echoing concerns previously raised by the state's Culture Minister. The SPD emphasizes the principle of "whoever orders, pays," asserting that the federal government must provide lasting support for states and municipalities to implement new nationwide quality standards.

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Whoever introduces new nationwide quality standards must also permanently enable the states and municipalities to implement them.

Federal Minister of Education Karin Prien (CDU) recently presented a draft law aimed at improving early childhood education through measures like language tests for all four-year-olds and targeted support. While the SPD acknowledges the importance of focusing on early childhood education, they criticize Minister Prien for overlooking the varying developmental stages across different states. The party argues that the federal government is leaving states and municipalities to manage the costs of quality improvement and retaining pedagogical staff on their own.

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CDU Federal Minister Prien seems to have lost sight of the different developmental stages in the states when she leaves the states in the lurch regarding the existing measures for quality improvement and retaining pedagogical staff.

The SPD's working group on early childhood education in the five East German states had previously warned the federal government about the potential impact of these plans in eastern Germany. They stressed that while binding language assessments and social index-based resource allocation are welcome, the implementation must align with local needs and existing childcare structures.

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Binding language assessments and targeted resource allocation using a social index are welcome. However, the implementation must be aligned with local needs and fit into the existing childcare structure.

Specifically for Saxony, the SPD points out that the proposed funding is significantly less than the state's needs. They argue that if the state budget must solely finance preparation time for educators and the substitute care system, while also covering new federal tasks, then substantial revisions are urgently required. This mirrors the sentiment of Saxony's Culture Minister, who stated that the draft law combines more requirements with less support, predicting it will not work.

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This will not work.