Play and learn together in the afternoon too: from the 2026 school year, first graders nationwide will have a legal right to a full-day school place. A few months before the start, a new dispute broke out in Lower Saxony over a decree from the Ministry of Culture. Several school and educational associations accuse the ministry of having “lost its grip”.
“The introduction of the legal right to all-day care for primary school children is one of the biggest educational policy reforms of the coming years – for schools, families and our entire educational landscape,” said Lower Saxony’s Minister of Education Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens) in December.
In November, the state parliament once again dealt with questions about the organization of the full day; as has been the case for years, it was about details about personnel and financial resources. From the opposition’s perspective, things are not going well for the red-green government: “The full day is coming – but the red-green has no plan,” said CDU education expert Jörn Schepelmann. “Schools and communities need clarity, not open questions.”
The country wanted to provide the answers with a new decree. At the start of the hearing process, Minister Hamburg promised more staff. There should be at least ten more teaching hours per week, even for small and smallest schools. “With this basic amount, we specifically ensure that locations in rural areas are not disadvantaged,” says Hamburg. “This makes a full day possible everywhere in Lower Saxony.”
Worry about patchwork
Not every school has to offer its own full-day program according to the state government’s plans. It is conceivable, for example, that several schools come together and set up a joint afternoon program. “The school authorities decide within the framework of their responsibilities,” it says in the ministry’s response to a request from the CDU.
It is also up to the individual schools and local councils to decide who – apart from the teachers – offers what activities in the afternoon. Schools can also give the money allocated to them for extra staff to independent providers such as sports clubs or music schools.
But the decree is unclear, the educational and upbringing mandate takes a back seat to pure care, it says in an open letter. In addition, there is a threat like in other federal statesa patchwork quilt.
The Lower Saxony Headmasters’ Association, the Association of Management of Lower Saxony Primary Schools (LNGS e. V.), the Non-Profit Society for Comprehensive Schools (GGG e. V.) and the Education and Science Union (GEW) are behind the letter.
They criticize the fact that the information and suggestions they submitted during the hearing process were not incorporated into the paper and that there was no reaction from the ministry. The entire process was more like “participation theater”.
The associations criticize the fact that their comments and suggestions were not included in the paper and that there was no reaction from the ministry.
All-day care is actually nothing new anymore: in the 2023/24 school year, 1,910 of the 2,534 general education schools in Lower Saxony already offered afternoon care, which corresponds to 75 percent. In the following school year, a further 41 schools applied to convert to all-day schools. The vast majority of schools make open offers that parents and children can accept voluntarily.
But the legal claim creates pressure on the cities and municipalities that are responsible for running the schools. The aim of the regulation is to support children in the afternoon too – ideally this should compensate for the fact that families have different amounts of time and opportunities for homework help and extracurricular education.
„All-day school is such a good idea.”says the statement from the Lower Saxony associations. “But anyone who equips their schools like the state of Lower Saxony is moving away from quality standards.”