Hamburg to replace professional inclusion aides with volunteers, cutting support for some disabled students

What the reform entails

Hamburg's education authority, in a letter to all school principals obtained by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, has announced that from the upcoming school year school accompaniment for inclusion children will no longer routinely involve qualified pedagogical staff. The authority argues that accompaniment is a "subordinate, helping support" and not an educational task, so social pedagogy professionals will only be approved in exceptional cases. Instead, participants of the Voluntary Social Year (FSJ) are to be deployed flexibly to supervise children on the way to and during classes. Unfilled FSJ positions can no longer be converted into hours for specialised staff.

For children with special educational needs in learning, language, and emotional or social development, school accompaniment will be withdrawn entirely in the first year. Instead they will receive individualised educational offers and possible external support. Only if adequate participation is not achieved after a year may accompaniment be discussed again, as a subordinate aid. The measure applies to all new cases, to cases from the 2025/26 school year, and to all students with long-term unchanged needs. Decision-making authority will remain with "decision conferences" that include school and ReBBZ centre representatives, but the education authority will now have the final say.

The numbers behind the cuts

The authority's own figures show a sharp rise in approved cases: from around 460 in the 2011/12 school year, to 3,226 last school year (2024/25), and 4,011 in the current year (2025/26). Annual costs have climbed from €6.75 million in 2014, to nearly €32.6 million in 2024, and to €42.15 million last year.

At the same time, the number of students with diagnosed special educational needs has increased to 15,606 this school year, representing 7.0 percent of all pupils, roughly 1,100 more than the previous year and nearly 3,000 more than in the pre-pandemic 2019/20 school year.

Union and opposition warn of declining participation

The education and science union GEW strongly criticised the plan. Its Hamburg chair, Sven Quiring, said:

Inclusion is a human right, not a voluntary service that can be cut depending on the budget situation.

He argued that rolling back qualified accompaniment and making support harder to access would worsen the educational and participation prospects of affected children and young people, and would leave teachers and schools alone with additional challenges. The union backed a petition against the cuts started by affected families and professionals.

The Left faction in the Hamburg Parliament also attacked the changes. A spokesperson said:

The announced changes amount to massive cuts, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The GEW further warned against treating school accompaniment as merely "subordinate help." For students with physical-motor development needs, autism spectrum disorders, or psychosocial support needs, reliable and competent accompaniment is a central prerequisite for successful inclusion.