Equal opportunities education

Parents’ selection behaviour in the transition from grade 4 to 5 often overwhelms the children – up to a third leave the grammar school again. Many students also have long school paths, some with multiple changes. New construction areas continue to increase the number of children to be trained. Integrated comprehensive schools (IGSen) close to home are one solution: They unite all educational programs, get along without sitting and support the students until the best possible degree. IGSen with upper school enable graduations up to the Abitur without having to change schools. We GRÜNE are committed to setting up newly founded schools in Wiesbaden as IGSen with upper secondary school.

Our children are growing up in a digital world. You need competences to move in this self-determined and critical. We Greens are committed to up-to-date media education in schools that takes advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalisation and at the same time protects against its risks. The Media Center in Wiesbaden is an important support for schools in order to be able to implement media education. It provides schools with software and hardware as well as support for media pedagogical work and support for media projects on topics such as disinformation, extremism and AI. We want the Wiesbaden Media Center to have sufficient resources to support all schools well. We also want to support cooperation in the field of IT and media education of schools and our universities.

The use of digital devices increases the chance of a greater individualization of teaching. Individualization means that the children and adolescents receive tasks with direct feedback according to the individual level of achievement and different accesses to learning content are made possible. In this way, students can be specifically promoted or demanded. We want reliability in the 1:1 project. The aim is to ensure that pupils are equipped with tablets from the 5th grade onwards (or, if the school wishes, from the 7th grade onwards). Thus, teaching concepts that use the advantages of the devices for themselves can be developed and implemented in the long term.

Educational language is an essential key to social participation. Children without sufficient knowledge of the German language are at a disadvantage from the beginning at school and later at work. Mandatory language tests must be taken at least two years before enrolment. In case of insufficient language skills, the children are supported by binding offers in KiTa and preschool. This makes it possible to participate successfully in teaching in the future.

School libraries are more than collections of books – they are places of learning that promote critical thinking, media literacy and social encounters. We therefore want to make the city school budget more flexible and strengthen the education infrastructure with the expansion of local book buses, thus creating an effective and opportunity-appropriate offer for all children.

We want to strengthen schools in the outer districts through targeted, reliable and more frequent bus connections (ring solutions, school buses) as well as cheap tickets for students. We want to make school paths safer through better bike paths, parking facilities, more attractive footpaths and school zones to reduce the dangers of ‘parent taxis’ in front of schools. By creating neighbourhood schools close to home, we want to reduce long school routes and car traffic and promote networking with primary schools, youth centres, libraries, associations and businesses. This strengthens education and community.

We GRÜNE are accordingly committed to ensuring that children and young people can continue to travel cheaply with the WI10/15 ticket in Wiesbaden and Mainz Bus and that the infrastructure for the safe way to school is continuously improved.

In order to be able to better support children and young people with specific challenges, i.e. to enable inclusion, we want participation assistance to be integrated into schools in the future. Participation Assistance (THA) enables pupils to participate equally in school lessons and school life. Participation assistance is requested from the Office of Social Affairs with the support of the school. We want THAs to be increasingly used in the organization and flow of teaching in the future. This, on the one hand, breaks the stigmatisation of the individual and, on the other hand, benefits a larger part of the community. In individual cases, individual support can still be useful. To this end, we want to implement an adjustment and flexibilisation of the city school budgets.

Sustainable and equitable education only succeeds if primary and secondary schools become real all-day schools. They enable all children – regardless of origin or family resources – to promote learning, social experiences and a wide range of offers through cooperation with associations and education providers. This is especially true for children who have less support outside of school. We GRÜNE strive for binding lessons without failure until the early afternoon as well as reliable support in the years 5 and 6 to 17 o'clock. In this way, we create more educational equity and at the same time facilitate the reconciliation of family and work.

Schools with their own cafeteria, where fresh food is cooked on site, ensure all children a balanced, regional, seasonal, ecological and sustainable lunch according to the standards of the German Nutrition Society (DGE).

This also gives children whose parents work at lunchtime and cannot prepare healthy food a reliable meal. This not only supports the reconciliation of family and work, but also promotes true educational equity: Every child can learn strengthened, work concentrated and participate in social interaction in the canteen. A healthy diet also prevents long-term nutrition-related diseases such as overweight, obesity or diabetes. Mensen are thus not only places of food supply, but also important common areas that promote social participation and health alike.

Modern schools (particularly all-day schools) require flexible spatial concepts that enable individual learning, collaboration and retreat in equal measure. Through the targeted creation of multifunctional spaces, play areas and sports areas, we not only want to promote self-determined learning, social interaction and creative development, but also compensate for disadvantages: Children who have little space, support or stimulation at home benefit here in particular. High-quality learning environments are therefore a key to greater educational equity because they open up comparable opportunities for all children to discover their talents and develop their full potential.

Since 2022, we GRÜNEN have been involved in this and we want to continue to resolve the refurbishment congestion in schools and make buildings sustainable, energy-efficient and modern. Good learning conditions are a central question of educational equity: All children deserve contemporary spaces that promote concentration, health and equal opportunities, whether they are learning in a new building or a historic school building. At heritage-protected schools, we rely on creative solutions that combine the preservation of valuable buildings with modern technology and energy efficiency. We are pushing for green roofs, photovoltaic systems and sustainable construction methods and are committed to consistently implementing the guidelines for ecological construction of public buildings in new buildings.

Rising temperatures make concentrated learning more difficult, especially for students who do not have cool retreats at home. That's why we make school buildings climate-resilient: by shading, roof and facade greening as well as unsealed schoolyards. Especially with the expansion of all-day schools, it is crucial that students can learn, play and recover under good conditions all day long. In this way, we create quality of stay, health protection and fair learning opportunities. The following applies to educational justice: Only when schools are climate-adapted do all children and young people – regardless of their background or living environment – have the same opportunities to learn and develop their potential.

In 2024, the partial update of the school development plan was adopted, which regulates the introduction of the legal entitlement to full-time care in primary schools and special schools in Wiesbaden. This step ensures that all children are entitled to full-time care from the 2026/27 school year, which improves the reconciliation of family and work for parents.

Already 62 % Primary school children are now taking advantage of afternoon care. This is a major step towards the implementation of the legal right to full-time care.

In December 2021, the updated school development plan for the years 2022 to 2026 was adopted with the participation of school communities and the City Parents’ Advisory Board. This plan sets out the strategic direction of school development in Wiesbaden, including ensuring local education and integrating qualitative aspects such as inclusion and digitalisation. We Greens have significantly supported this plan and thus created a long-term framework for school development.

Since 2022, we GRÜNE have contributed to the investment of over 500 million euros. We have consistently pushed ahead with the renovation and modernisation of the Wiesbaden schools. For the refurbishment of toilets, an own refurbishment programme with around 2.5 million euros has been set up, from which almost 20 schools have so far benefited. Numerous new construction, expansion and refurbishment projects have been decided upon or have already been implemented. We invest in energy-efficient buildings, modern learning spaces and barrier-free access to create a contemporary and inclusive learning environment and contribute to climate protection. Through the increased use of the municipal WiBau as a construction company, we ensure efficient and rapid processes and implementations.

Almost 10,000 students attend the five vocational schools at the Wiesbaden Vocational School Center. With the construction of the new Friedrich-Ebert-Schule, we have further advanced the expansion of the vocational school campus. Dual training contributes significantly to the economic success of the region. Therefore, we have successfully committed ourselves to maintaining the training locations in Wiesbaden.

We have advocated the promotion of inclusive education and the integration of digital learning tools for teaching. Wiesbaden is now consistently investing in the digital equipment of its schools. For the 2022/23 school year, all schools in the city were equipped with high-performance fibre-optic connections – smaller schools with 500 Mbps, larger schools with 1 Gbps. The 2022-2025 Media Development Plan also sets out how digital terminals, presentation technology and IT infrastructure will be continuously expanded and modernised to enable up-to-date learning and teaching in all types of schools. The plan explicitly envisages increasing the staffing capacity at the Media Centre to support schools – for better technical support and tailor-made training opportunities in schools. This is how we ensure that digitalisation in Wiesbaden not only means technical upgrades, but also an educational opportunity: for self-determined and individual learning, creative use of media and fair educational opportunities in a digital world.

We have made significant progress in digital education in Wiesbaden. Teachers are now equipped with mobile devices. With the project ‘1:1 equipment from grade 5 onwards’ – optionally according to the concept of the respective school also from grade 7 onwards – we are creating digital equal opportunities: Each child should have access to their own tablet, regardless of their parents' income. In order to achieve this goal, Wiesbaden relies on parent-financed equipment with funding from the state capital (‘Get Your Own Device’ model). Income-poor families receive the tablet free of charge and return it at the end of school or leave. The media center handles central device management with configuration and support specified by the school.

We have significantly strengthened school social work in Wiesbaden: Since 2025, there have been professional social workers on site at all primary and secondary schools, integrated comprehensive schools, vocational schools and on the basis of the social index at selected primary schools. They are the direct point of contact for pupils, parents and teachers – be it for school, social or personal challenges. The school social work provides prevention work, supports in conflicts and crises and promotes the social development of children and adolescents. Through the comprehensive presence at the schools, we help to increase equal opportunities, strengthen cohesion and offer children a safe, supportive learning environment.

We have launched another important project after the Oranienschule has already received 350,000 euros: Three other Wiesbaden schools – the Diltheyschule, Hermann-Ehlers-Schule and Gustav-Stresemann-Schule – will be transformed into living learning and living spaces through schoolyard sealing and diverse greening. With more than 1.2 million euros from federal funding and the city’s own contribution, homeland is being created for biodiversity – providing shade, water withholding and reducing heat. Small biotopes, barrier-free design and natural exploratory areas offer students practical environmental education. The transformation will take place from 2028 to 2029 – a visible step towards climate-resilient schools and combine climate protection with innovative educational concepts.

On the initiative of us Greens, the WI15 ticket was set up in Wiesbaden, with children and young people from Wiesbaden until their 18th birthday. For your birthday, you can use public transport throughout Hesse and Mainz for only 15 € per month. Low-income families only pay €10. Despite the recent increase of the regular student ticket Hessen by the RMV to around 32€ per month, the city of Wiesbaden keeps the price of the WI15 ticket stable. In this way, families are specifically relieved in times of inflation and rising costs of living. With the introduction of a digital application process, we have simplified the application process for school transport.

Safe bike paths make it easier for children in particular to get to school independently and with fewer dangers. That's why, for example, we converted two roads close to the school, Lessingstraße and Mosbacher Straße, into bicycle roads.

From our point of view, origin must not decide on school success. The new start-up programme, which was initiated by the last federal government, is therefore intended to specifically support schools with a high proportion of socially disadvantaged pupils. Wiesbaden receives around EUR 26 million in federal funds and brings in additional own resources of EUR 11 million. This funding will go to 17 primary schools, 6 secondary schools and 2 vocational schools, so that climate-friendly, barrier-free, conducive learning environments, exercise and sports opportunities can be created there, but it can also finance staff reinforcements, such as those provided by school psychologists and socio-educational specialists.