Expanded Survey Suggests Improvements for Increased Space and Additional Staff at the 24/7 Establishment
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the open all-day school (OGS) is set to undergo an expansion, aiming to provide better conditions for these educational facilities. According to a survey conducted by GEW NRW, there is a need for more space and binding pedagogical and organisational coordination between schools and OGS.
Currently, around 80 percent of OGS operations take place in normal classrooms, which are often not suitable for the afternoon offers. This situation is placing a strain on the OGS, with full groups, small rooms, and too few specialists.
GEW demands that OGS employees be better integrated into school development and deployed in pedagogical support during lessons. They also call for these staff members to be paid according to collective agreements, but this is not the case for 37 percent of those surveyed.
The state government is assuring that this momentum is maintained, with a commitment to ensure that more than 480,000 places can be financed from the state from the school year 2025/26. From the school year 2026/27, first graders will have a legal claim to all-day places, with a gradual extension to older grades, aiming to achieve a projected OGS need rate of around 80 percent nationwide by the final expansion in 2029/30.
The open all-day school is seen as an important step towards more educational justice and equal opportunities. GEW emphasizes the importance of not seeing OGS as a "storage facility" and states that "All-day school is education."
In new buildings and renovations, OGS requirements should be planned in, with child-friendly design and areas for rest, movement, and creativity. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Family Affairs have stated that North Rhine-Westphalia is on track with the expansion of OGS.
Around two-thirds of those surveyed wish for better coordination between school and OGS in pedagogical planning and exchange about the children. The legal claim for a place in the open all-day school will apply to the first classes from 2026/27, gradually extending to grades two to four, and will apply to all primary school children from 2029/30.
More than ever before, 50,000 places for the open all-day school will be added in 2025. The open all-day schools, which have been in operation in NRW for about 20 years and are in high demand, are often characterized by cramped conditions, noise, and lack of retreats.
The state budget provides for this increase of 50,000 places for the open all-day school in 2025. However, specific schools or locations in North Rhine-Westphalia originally selected for implementing the law on all-day schools in primary schools from the 2026/27 school year have not been explicitly named in the available sources.
The Ministry of Education sees the tracks set to gradually implement the legal claim to all-day support for children in primary school age from the coming school year. GEW NRW stresses the need for these improvements to ensure that the open all-day school is not just a place for childcare, but a place where education thrives.
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