According to the German Youth Institute, between 30,000 and 43,000 new all-day places in elementary schools will have to be created at Berlin schools this decade. This is the result of a comprehensive study that the institute presented together with the Technical University of Dortmund at the beginning of the week.The need corresponds to an expansion of the present all-day offer around 29 to 40 percent and lies thereby with the country-wide average. Altogether would have to be created for it according to youth institute up to the school start in autumn 2029 between 1200 to 2400 new full-time positions and invested 136 to 193 million euro. In addition, there would be additional annual operating costs of 80 to 185 million euros in the 2029/2030 school year.

At the moment, according to the study, Berlin can offer its citizens a decent all-day education: According to the study, nine out of ten families who apply for a full-day place have actually received this place in recent years. However, the Youth Institute expects demand to rise as soon as there is a legal entitlement to a full-day place.This is planned to take place gradually throughout Germany from 2026 - as decided by the Bundestag and Bundesrat in September. According to the institute's figures, there will be a shortage of around 600,000 all-day places at elementary schools across Germany by 2029. This would require an additional 35,000 full-time positions.However, "the additional expansion requirement is lower than previously assumed," it said. This is because "at last count, more than 1.6 million elementary school children were already attending all-day programs. This means that three out of four of the required places are currently already available," the researchers announced in Munich on Tuesday.

All-day schooling: the greatest need for expansion in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria

There is a particular need for expansion in the western German states, where 30 to 40 percent of the places still need to be created. "Particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, significant efforts will still be needed to find enough qualified staff to meet the full legal entitlement to an all-day place at primary school age from the 2029/30 school year," said Professor Thomas Rauschenbach, scientific director of the Dortmund Research Association. The two most populous states still lack 7500 and 7000 full-time positions, respectively.

In Thuringia, on the other hand, no additional demand is expected at all until 2030; in the other eastern German states, there is only a small need for personnel. At Brandenburg's elementary schools, for example, around 5,000 to 12,000 new all-day places will have to be created in the coming decade, according to the institute. This would require the creation of between 200 and 700 new full-time positions and investments of 116 to 196 million euros. In addition, there would be additional annual operating costs of 14 to 52 million euros in the 2029/2030 school year. At 7 to 16 percent, the expansion requirement is well below the national average. Coverage is already similar to that in Berlin.

"Here, the supply is already well developed, and the number of children is declining in a few years in some cases," the researchers said of the Flächenländer in the east. In Hamburg, too, only a small number of places are still missing, they said.

Nationwide investment costs around 4.6 billion euros

The overall lower demand means that "the costs incurred will also be lower than previously assumed," the researchers said. "Nationwide, investment costs to create new places are now assumed to be around 4.6 billion euros." In addition, the study authors expect additional operating costs of a maximum of 2.6 billion euros for the 2029/30 school year. The highest costs would arise in North Rhine-Westphalia with about 575 million and Bavaria with 531 million euros.

The federal government has promised the states to support the expansion of all-day schooling with up to 3.5 billion euros for the infrastructure and to contribute to the running costs on a permanent basis. According to the federal government, the funds will grow to up to 1.3 billion euros per year from 2030. The all-day project is "a challenge in terms of education policy," but appears feasible, said Rauschenbach.