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1. What is this new law and what does the legal entitlement to all-day childcare mean?
The law on all-day support for children of primary school age regulates the gradual introduction of the nationwide all-day requirement from the 2026/27 school year. This means that from August 2026, all first-graders in Germany will have a legal right to an all-day place. This entitlement will be extended to the remaining primary school years in subsequent years, so that from the 2029/2030 school year, all children from first to fourth grade will be entitled to a place in all-day childcare. This also applies to holidays – schools may close for a maximum of four weeks.
2. Is all-day childcare compulsory?
The legal entitlement is not compulsory for families – parents can therefore decide for themselves whether their children take up the offer of all-day childcare. A basic distinction is made between open and tied all-day schools: In tied all-day schools, attendance is compulsory for at least three days with a minimum of seven hours. This is not compulsory for open all-day schools, but children should be present until at least 3 p.m. on at least three days if possible in order to ensure continuity and the ability to plan the educational work.
3. What is the aim of the new law?
The all-day entitlement is intended to help achieve a better work-life balance, equal participation of women and men in working life and equal living conditions. It has also been shown that children learn better in all-day schooling and therefore also benefit from all-day childcare. Children should make friends, discover and experience their world together and learn new things. This creates educational opportunities that can compensate for disadvantages.
4. What is the current status of all-day childcare?
At present, around 430,000 of around 680,000 primary school children take part in an all-day programme. Even if not all of them make use of the legal entitlement , this means an increase of around 100,000 to 150,000 children who will need additional childcare from 2026. According to the Gewerkschaft für Erziehung und Wissenschaft NRW (Trade Union for Education and Science in North Rhine-Westphalia), a group size of 25 children with two carers results in an additional requirement of around 12,000 educational staff, in addition to the total of around 47,000 educational staff that will be needed in the future.
5. How is the all-day entitlement financed?
The federal and state governments are jointly financing the implementation of the new law. The federal government will pay 3.5 billion euros for the expansion of reliable and needs-based education and childcare services and will also contribute to the ongoing costs: with a total of 2.49 billion euros in the years 2026-2029 and then 1.3 billion euros annually from 2030.
6. What does all-day childcare involve?
In the all-day programme, children should receive educational care and support alongside their lessons. This involves a total of eight hours on all five school days and lunch must be provided. In the additive form of the all-day programme, lessons take place in the morning and after lunch the children can attend homework supervision or take part in various leisure activities. These can include sports, music, painting and handicrafts as well as cooking and baking. In the rhythmised form, lessons, breaks and extracurricular educational and childcare activities are offered throughout the day and are mixed more freely. 
7. What are the challenges?
The implementation of the legal entitlement to all-day childcare is accompanied by a number of hurdles:
- There is a shortage of educators, social pedagogues and specialists: according to the Bertelsmann Stiftung, several 10,000 additional teachers and up to 100,000 additional pedagogical specialists are needed. This challenge is particularly acute in western Germany. In order to find specialised staff, the profession needs to be made more attractive by increasing the number of hours, improving salaries and working conditions.
- It is estimated that around 600,000 to 800,000 additional all-day places need to be created at primary schools in order to gradually meet demand by 2029.
- There is a massive shortage of space at most primary schools, as the premises need to be both expanded and renovated. Often, desired programmes cannot be carried out due to a lack of rooms.
- The distribution and utilisation of the financial resources provided often fails due to a lack of planning capacity on the part of the municipalities.
- There is a lack of standardised regulations and quality standards, meaning that there are major differences between federal states and individual municipalities.
- School administrators emphasise that pupils should be motivated to attend all-day childcare in order to really benefit from it. This means that expansion alone is not enough; the quality must also be right.
8. Increasing bureaucracy and additional logistics can be made significantly easier with digital tools
Another decisive factor in all-day childcare is the enormous additional organisational burden on teaching and administrative staff. The coordination of staff, rooms and childcare programmes as well as constant communication with parents and external partners mean a considerable amount of extra work for schools. Digital systems for communication and administration offer noticeable relief here.
9. All-day relaxation with the all-day administration with PUPIL
As a proven tool for all administrative processes in everyday education, PUPIL offers precisely this relief and simple digital solutions for school administration. As part of the Sdui Group, the suite for Planning & Administration creates order in schools through intuitive operation, increased efficiency and reliability. For example, functions such as master data management, the Room and Resource planner or a specially developed module for supplementary school childcare services help with the organisation of all-day provision. Whether creating meal plans, recording registrations and cancellations or optimising the distribution of places and childcare staff, PUPIL ensures fast, smooth planning, leaving more time for the essentials. You can find more information here.