We want every child – with his or her talents and weaknesses –
to be given a chance. Our ongoing goal is to guarantee equal
opportunity, and that requires good all-day schools. We already
have many of them in Germany; one only has to take a look at
them. Good all-day schools are a necessary prerequisite for
children and young people to receive intensive, individual
attention from an early stage. This is precisely the Achilles
heel of our school system. We don’t give children enough
individual attention and support early on. Therefore, this is
precisely where we will begin our work. We need to start with
elementary schools. That is why the all-day school program is
not only for the final years of high school [Sekundarstufe II].
We have to start with kindergarten to ensure better cooperation
between kindergartens and elementary schools. Because the
deficits that emerge early on are usually very difficult to
correct at a later stage. Here, we must be guided by the motto
of the Finnish education system: “Every ch