Germany plans €9.25 billion early education reform with mandatory age-four testing

Cabinet deliberations and funding scope

On 2 September 2026, the German federal cabinet met in Berlin to discuss the proposed Start Opportunities and Quality Development Act (Startchancen- und Qualitätsentwicklungsgesetz). The legislative plan, drafted and published in July 2026, outlines an investment of approximately 9.25 billion euros from the federal government across the period from 2027 to 2034. The funding package is intended to equip daycare facilities across Germany with additional resources, focusing specifically on hiring more childcare educators and expanding social work support in centres facing social challenges.

Nationwide development diagnostics

Under the legislation presented by Family Minister Karin Prien, Germany will introduce uniform nationwide diagnostic standards for early childhood development for the first time. The framework requires every child to undergo evaluations for language ability, motor skills, and general developmental status by the age of four at the latest. The testing mandate applies across all 16 federal states and covers both children enrolled in public daycare facilities and four-year-olds who do not attend preschool care.

Speaking to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Prien outlined the diagnostic requirement established in the government draft.

Every child in Germany will in future be diagnosed for language and developmental status at the latest by the age of four.

Three-pillar reform and tiered staff allocation

The legislative proposal rests on three structural pillars: bringing more young children into public childcare, detecting language and developmental deficits as early as possible, and balancing existing disadvantages through targeted aid. While all daycare facilities will receive additional funding and working time to administer the diagnostic tests and provide basic support, the policy concentrates resources on facilities with high proportions of children living in difficult socioeconomic circumstances. The draft specifies that at least ten percent of daycare centres in each federal state must receive this enhanced institutional funding.

Under the draft allocation model, eligible centres serving 80 children will receive funding for at least 20 additional hours per week of qualified specialist staff. Facilities with more than 80 enrolled children will be allocated at least 40 additional hours weekly, and facilities with more than 120 children will receive at least 60 hours per week for educators and social workers.

Addressing educational inequality

The reform seeks to reduce long-standing inequities within the German education system, where an individual student's academic path depends more heavily on parental income, parental education levels, and family social circumstances than in peer countries. By establishing mandatory diagnostics at age four, the ministry intends to detect learning gaps and provide corrective support during kindergarten before children enter primary school.

Prien explained the rationale for concentrating financial resources on institutions with higher support requirements.

Where there is greater need for support, more resources must also flow.

The family minister noted that early childhood intervention allows educators to build foundational skills before formal schooling begins.

You look at what a child can already do and what competencies they should still acquire before entering school. That can still be corrected at such an early age. And whoever has special support needs, even at the ages of four and five, should acquire these competencies before school begins.