(de-news.net) – Federal Minister for Education and Family Affairs, Karin Prien (CDU), has expressed support for the implementation of nationwide language assessments to be performed by four-year-old children. She emphasized that, contingent upon the results, targeted pre-school interventions should be mandated where necessary. Nonetheless, Prien underscored that jurisdiction over such measures resides with the individual federal states, which she considered beneficial.

Furthermore, Prien advocated for the advancement of school enrollment for children requiring special educational support, referencing existing or pilot programs in several states. She noted a growing consensus among education ministers on the imperative to enhance the transition between early childhood education and formal schooling. In addition, she called for increased parental accountability, reiterating that both education and upbringing fundamentally originate within the family context.

Criticism of the proposed assessment framework for children was voiced by Niels Espenhorst, advisor for early childhood education at the Paritätischer Gesamtverband. He argued that establishing a new, parallel system disconnected from existing structures is conceptually flawed. While current methodologies for assessing linguistic development are generally effective, Espenhorst contended that they predominantly identify deficits rather than competencies and fail to account for the multilingual realities of children across Germany.