Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament: Financial support for all-day care!

Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament: Financial support for all-day care!

On June 18, 2025, an important meeting took place in the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament in which Finance Minister Silke Schneider (Greens) discussed support for the expansion of all-day care in the municipalities. From the perspective of the education sector, this is a hot topic because the state rulers have decided to take over the missing money for the full-day expansion. A look at the funding guidelines shows that up to 85 percent of the costs are financed. NDR reports that a further 62.5 percent of the required funds are available through the federal government's special funds, which means around 180 million euros annually for the municipalities.

The beginning of the session was particularly exciting; Shortly after a fire alarm, the deputies showed that classes were not coming to a standstill. The CDU parliamentary group leader Tobias Koch and the Green party group leader Lasse Petersdotter explained their “Pact for Democracy” and announced that from the 2027/2028 school year the hours for interdisciplinary teaching (WiPo) in middle school should be increased by two hours. However, these plans are overshadowed by planned cuts to the sixth form, which will be addressed in an upcoming debate.

Investing in education

The SPD sees the need for a “Schleswig-Holstein Pact” offer to initiate targeted investments in daycare centers, schools, education, health and climate protection. The CDU and the Greens also emphasized that it must first be clarified how much money can be budgeted, since MPs still lack federal laws. Another topic that is very popular is the increase in the commuter allowance and the reduction in sales tax for the catering industry.

Another pressing issue was the state of dementia care: around 68,000 people live with dementia in Schleswig-Holstein. The SSW called for a revision of the dementia plan, while the FDP raised questions about the implementation of the new daycare law, especially with regard to quality due to relaxed requirements for skilled workers.

Focus on all-day care

The full-day expansion remains a central topic of education policy in Schleswig-Holstein. The funding guidelines for the all-day investment program came into force on June 17th. A total volume of up to 196 million euros is planned, which will be financed from federal and state funds. all-day schools.org highlights that the state of Schleswig-Holstein is providing an additional 52.5 million euros for this area.

Of course, these subsidies can be applied for for new buildings, conversions, extensions as well as for renovations and equipment investments. From July 1, 2024, school authorities can access the application forms on the IB.SH homepage, with actual submission possible from September 1, 2024. The application process is intended to give the school authorities plenty of time to prepare the documents through a two-stage process.

The aim of the full day is to reduce educational injustice and effectively counteract the shortage of skilled workers. By 2026, the “All-Day Master Plan” is intended to define concrete framework conditions that associations demand in order to increase the quality and organizational structure in all-day care. all day sh.de emphasizes that this concept is intended to strengthen cooperation between the state and municipalities in order to significantly increase the opportunities for children.

At a time when the challenges in educational policy are becoming ever greater and a large number of side projects such as the rail infrastructure improvement program have to be tackled, it becomes clear how important a common strategy for high-quality all-day care is in order to ensure educational equality in Schleswig-Holstein. This is also an investment in the future of our children and young people.