As Germany prepares to introduce a nationwide legal entitlement to all-day care in primary schools starting this autumn, a new study suggests that many schools will struggle to meet the requirement. According to a Forsa survey commissioned by the Education and Training Association (VBE), only two-thirds of primary school principals believe their schools will be able to offer such care. The union warned of quality issues and risks to educational equity.
In the survey released on Friday, 67% of primary school principals said their schools could provide all-day care for all children entering first grade in the 2026/27 school year. By contrast, 25% said their municipalities would not be able to ensure the required care in time, while 8% said they could not make an assessment.
All-day care guarantees families up to eight hours of supervision across five weekdays. This can be provided through school-based programs or after-school centers, and partnerships between schools and external child and youth services also qualify. The entitlement is set to be phased in for grades one through four by the 2029/30 school year, beginning with new first-graders this year.
“The legal entitlement to all-day care cannot be fulfilled everywhere at the current time,” VBE chair Tomi Neckov said, summarizing the findings. “If it is implemented for the 2026/2027 school year, major problems with the quality of the offer are also looming,” he warned. “We also see a risk to educational equity and logistical challenges.”
The union noted “the efforts of municipalities and positive developments”, previous surveys showed even fewer principals expected to meet the requirement by autumn. Still, it warned of “immense challenges,” pointing to uncertainty over who would provide professional instruction and care and in which spaces. “The legal entitlement to all-day care suggests pedagogical offerings, but in the end only the custodial supervision of children is guaranteed,” Neckov said.
Among principals who said they could not provide sufficient all-day care, the biggest obstacles were a lack of space (74%) and a shortage of qualified staff (67 percent), according to the VBE. Nearly half cited insufficient funding, while about one-third pointed to bureaucratic hurdles and unclear regulations. Only 9% said demand for all-day care was lacking.
The survey found that 22% of schools do not offer all-day programs, nor do they plan to convert to one. The poll covered 1,312 school principals nationwide, including those from secondary schools, such as Hauptschulen, Realschulen, comprehensive schools and grammar schools, as well as special education institutions.
Principals from current or soon-to-be all-day schools were also asked about minimum pedagogical qualifications for future staff. According to the survey, 40% reported having such requirements in place, while 53% did not. Special education schools were better prepared at 51 percent, compared with 36% of primary schools.
Left Party politician Nicole Gohlke warned that the all-day system risked becoming a “pure low-cost care model” and criticized the lack of unified standards for staffing ratios, training, or educational content. She added that the entitlement must also be financed “adequately.” The nationwide survey was conducted between mid-September and mid-October last year and is considered representative, with a margin of error of plus/minus three percentage points.
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