The German Association of Cities has warned of delays in expanding all-day care. "The alarm bells are ringing in the cities," said General Manager Helmut Dedy of the German Press Agency. The federal and state governments would have to agree immediately on the administrative agreement for the expansion prescribed by law in the new year. "Until then, the necessary investments by the municipal school authorities in new rooms and equipment will be blocked and the expansion will be slowed down."

Nationwide, all children starting school in the 2026/2027 school year should be entitled to an all-day place at school for the first four years. The federal government supports the necessary expansion of the places with up to 3.5 billion euros and also contributes to the operating costs on a permanent basis. According to the law, the details of the implementation must be specified in a special "administrative agreement" between the federal and state governments. This is not yet.

"stuck in a queue"

"As long as the agreement is not signed, the countries withhold their funds. There is a domino effect," said Dedy. The cities would then have to postpone their investments, although they would have to quickly expand and renovate schools for the planned all-day care. "Instead of investing at full speed now, we're stuck in a queue." Also with a view to calculation costs with rising building material prices and scarce resources in construction, he called for a quick decision from the federal and state governments.

The city council mentioned another problem: It has not yet been clarified which staff should be used all day. Educational associations have long pointed out that tens of thousands of additional skilled workers will be needed for the expansion. Irrespective of this, there is already a shortage of skilled workers in the education sector, as in many other areas.