Daycare Start Opportunities Act: More funding with less money?

The law is about the little ones. The goals that Karin Prien (CDU) associates with this are great. Before the decision in the Bundestag, the Federal Minister of Education left no doubt about the importance she attaches to the "Starting Opportunities and Quality Development Act" from her ministry: "This law enables equal opportunities in our country. This law brings the promise of advancement in our social market economy back to life. This law opens up perspectives for children and thus strengthens our democracy."

A new justice, the revival of an increasingly unfulfilled promise of advancement, new perspectives for children: Prien wants to achieve all of this by doing more for early childhood education. So far in Germany, whether children can read, write and count well has depended largely on two factors: the income and the level of education of the parents, says the minister.

That should change. “Educational opportunities in our country should not depend on which family or where a child is born. Educational opportunities should be determined by the talents and abilities of the individual child,” said Prien.

Mandatory tests, targeted funding

Children should therefore be tested by the age of four at the latest: Where are they in their linguistic development? What about social-emotional, motor and mathematical skills? If there are deficits, targeted support is provided.

The opposition in the Bundestag also generally likes better funding. However, the AfD is of the opinion that the law does not solve the actual problems: the lack of staff and a lack of daycare places.

Anja Reinalter from the Greens asks: "Is that your answer to Pisa? Is that your answer to the education crisis? You want nationwide standards but pay less? Where can you find something like that?"

Less and less money for daycare centers from the federal government

The Greens and the Left accuse the federal government of not wanting to spend more money on supporting daycare centers in the next few years, but rather less and less. Any potential positive effects of the law threatened to evaporate.

Heidi Reichinnek from the Left Party even speaks of hypocrisy and social cuts: "The family minister is cutting the already ridiculously low federal funding for daycare quality by half in the medium term. Instead of two billion per year, there will only be 1.5 billion in 2027 and only one billion from 2030. It's really unbelievable that we should be celebrating this here."

Long-term financial commitments

Minister Prien counters that the federal government is making exceptionally long-term financial commitments under the law. Daycare centers in difficult situations should particularly benefit from this. For example, facilities with many children from families at risk of poverty or families in which no German is spoken could have additional staff.

If the Federal Council also agrees, the law will come into force at the beginning of next year. The central regulations will then be introduced gradually.