North Rhine-Westphalia CDU and Greens push ABC classes and Kita reform through Landtag amid fierce opposition

Parliamentary standoff

On the final plenary days before the summer recess, the black-green coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia will put two heavily criticised bills to a vote: the introduction of ABC classes for pre-school children with poor language skills and a reform of the Kita law. The SPD opposition requested a third reading for both pieces of legislation, a procedural move that pushes the final votes to the very end of Thursday's session. SPD family policy spokesman Dennis Maelzer called the laws "highly controversial" and lamented the government's failure to amend the drafts properly despite massive expert criticism.

Both laws are highly controversial. Unfortunately, the state government has not managed to adequately improve the drafts despite massive criticism from the professional community. It must not be that they are simply waved through late in the evening.

The timing guarantees that the decisive votes will take place as the last agenda items on Thursday evening, a slot that critics say reduces public scrutiny of a reform affecting tens of thousands of families.

ABC classes: a new model for language support

Starting in the 2028/29 school year, North Rhine-Westphalia will establish ABC classes for children who show significant language deficits before entering primary school. Around one third of all children in the state currently display incomplete language skills at school entry. School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) estimates that roughly 50,000 children will attend the extra lessons each year. Classes are designed to run for two sessions of two hours per week over a full year for every child who is due to start school from 1 August 2029.

To identify children in need earlier, the school enrolment process will be moved from autumn to spring. In spring 2028, all children across NRW will for the first time undergo a uniform standardised language assessment. The programme will require approximately 1,650 additional teachers, according to state planning.

Organised criticism from unions and associations

The German Kita Association of NRW sent an open letter to Minister-President Hendrik Wüst (CDU) arguing that taking language support out of daycare centres and relocating it to schools would disrupt children's routines. The association also warns about millions in transport costs to bus children from familiar Kitas to unknown schools and teachers. As an alternative, it proposes continuing and expanding the federally initiated "Sprach-Kitas" programme, which already reaches around 1,300 facilities in the state with NRW's own funding beyond 2026.

Unions and the liberal FDP question where the 1,650 teachers needed for ABC classes are supposed to come from, given an already tight labour market for educators. The Kita Association's proposal to reinforce existing Sprach-Kitas rather than building a parallel system from scratch has not been taken up by the coalition.

Government defence

Minister Feller insists that ABC classes do not have to be held exclusively in public schools; they can also be attached to daycare centres or other suitable locations depending on space and local demand. She describes the implementation as pragmatic and promises that the state will cover all transport costs. Despite these assurances, the bills remain unchanged and have drawn criticism from educational experts beyond the political opposition. The final votes are now set for late Thursday evening, and the outcome is widely expected to follow coalition lines.