Germany’s Union Party Supports Berlin’s Education Senator’s Proposal for Mandatory Pre-School for Children Aged Three and Above, with Certain Preconditions.
The Union’s parliamentary group’s education policy spokesperson, Thomas Jarzombek, told the Tagesspiegel, “We share the view that learning should start early – in an age-appropriate manner.” Therefore, the party intends to establish a mandatory pre-school program for all children with special needs. “Education Minister Katharina Günther-Wünsch’s proposal is a significant contribution to an important debate and points in the right direction” Jarzombek said.
Education Minister of Schleswig-Holstein and coordinator of the Union-led B-states, Karin Prien, echoed similar sentiments, stating, “Early childhood education is not only the central key to more educational equity, but also to successful integration.”
To provide targeted support, Prien suggested that compulsory language tests should take place at the latest by the age of four. “Early diagnosis, which then leads to targeted language support, is urgently needed. And for children diagnosed with a higher language support need, a kindergarten or pre-school obligation is the right approach” Prien argued.
However, Education Minister of Rhineland-Palatine and coordinator of the SPD-led A-states, Stefanie Hubig, has a different view. “Already, about 91% of children over the age of three attend a kindergarten” Hubig said, highlighting the importance of securing a kindergarten spot for all children. “What doesn’t help is now introducing a ‘pre-school obligation’ to undo the cooperation between kindergarten and schools – and that’s what makes sense, on the one hand, for children aged three to six and, on the other hand, for school education for children” Hubig stated.
Both approaches have their merits, and the goal is to continue improving the transition between kindergarten and elementary school, particularly in language support. “It’s important and sensible to create more bindingness in early childhood education” Hubig said. “In Rhineland-Palatine, for example, we now assess the children’s language skills a year and a half before their planned entry into elementary school, and thus much earlier than before. If a language support need is identified, corresponding support can be ordered” Hubig added.
Family Minister Lisa Paus of the Green Party rejected the proposal, saying, “The recent demand by Minister Günther-Wünsch for a three-year compulsory pre-school is a grasp at moth-eaten pedagogical ideas from the last century, not in line with the Basic Law and the needs of our society’s youngest members.” Already, core competencies are being taught in kindergartens. Introducing a mandatory pre-school would undo this approach to early childhood education. “School problems must primarily be addressed in schools” Paus said.
Similarly, Education Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and President of the Conference of Education Ministers of the States, Simone Oldenburg of the Left Party, sees the proposal as unnecessary. “What’s important is that, especially in the last kindergarten year, basic competencies must be strengthened, as included in the education concepts of the states and the pedagogical concepts of many kindergartens” Oldenburg said. Her state, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is currently at the top of the list, with a kindergarten attendance rate of 94.5% for children aged three to six.