kindergartens - Education Minister promises new Kita funding by 2027
Land, districts, and municipalities aim to work hand in hand in the digitalization of schools and the reform of kindergarten funding in the future. The kindergarten funding law needs to be renewed, said Education Minister Steffen Freiberg (SPD) in the Potsdam State Chancellery. By 2027, the financing of care should be restructured. The recently signed joint declaration between the Education Ministry and the municipal peak associations is to be understood as a consensus on a working process, said Jens Graf, President of the City and Town Council. It has not been determined "who will pay how much".
Kindergarten financing until 2027
"Do we want a common understandable kindergarten financing?", asked Siegurd Heinze, Chairman of the Land Conference. This question was answered with a clear "Yes" from the state, the districts, and the municipalities. There are not many who understand how kindergarten financing is built up, so Heinze. That brings a lot of misunderstanding with it. One must make that clear by the middle of the new legislative period, otherwise nothing will come of it.
Every schoolchild should receive an end device
The parties involved in the digitalization of schools agreed on concrete plans regarding the digitalization at schools: First, the Brandenburg school portal should be set up as a digital basis for all schools for their administration and teaching management. Second, an approximately equivalent technical infrastructure should be created at each school. Lastly, every pupil in Brandenburg should be provided with a digital end device. The type of end device it refers to was left open. "The end devices are the last question to be clarified", emphasized Minister Freiberg.
Unclear timeline
The implementation of the projects depends largely on open financing questions, said Freiberg. For this reason, the results of possible negotiations between the federal states and the federal government on the Digital Pact 2.0 are still being waited for. The federal states recently urged the federal government in a resolution to conclude the necessary administrative agreement for a Digital Pact 2.0 as soon as possible.
The federal government has been involved in the first Digital Pact since May 2019 with 6.5 billion euros. With this, it financed approximately 90 percent of the expenses for the digitalization in schools, i.e., for laptops and digital blackboards. The remaining ten percent were borne by the federal states and communities. In the future, the federal government wants a 50/50 financing, as it was called last. Originally, the program had a volume of five billion euros, but was increased due to the Corona pandemic. The federal states see themselves financially overburdened with a higher participation.
- Steffen Freiberg, the Education Minister from the SPD, expressed the need for renewing the kindergarten funding law in Potsdam.
- According to Jens Graf, the President of the City and Town Council, the recent declaration between the Education Ministry and the municipal peak associations signifies a consensus on a working process for kindergarten financing.
- Minister Freiberg highlighted that the type of end device for every schoolchild in Brandenburg is the last question to be clarified in the digitalization of schools.
- Siegurd Heinze, Chair of the Land Conference, suggested that understanding the structure of kindergarten financing is crucial to avoid misunderstandings and enable a common approach by the middle of the new legislative period.
- The SDP, federal states, and communities have advocated for equal financing in the future digitalization of schools, with the federal government taking responsibility for 50% of the expenses, as opposed to the current 90%.
