Issued on: 24.06.2026
Press Release 74/2026
Best education from the start: Saarland initiates amendment to the Education, Upbringing, and Care Act
Complete exemption from contributions from January 1, 2027, better utilization of existing daycare places, more reliability for families, and additional measures to recruit skilled workers:
With the amendment of the Saarland Education, Upbringing and Care Act (SBEBG), Saarland is consistently continuing its course for strong early childhood education.
The Saarland state parliament discussed the bill introduced by the state government today in the first reading.
Minister of Education Christine Streichert-Clivot:
“When children discover the world with curiosity, learn together, and grow beyond themselves every day, it shows how valuable good early childhood education is. The daycare center lays the foundation for this. With the amendment of the Saarland Education, Upbringing, and Care Act, we are consistently continuing our Saarland daycare triad of free contributions, quality, and expansion. We relieve families, create more reliability in everyday life, and strengthen the professional base of our institutions. With this, we invest in the most valuable thing we have: our children. Because their future does not begin at school – it begins where they experience security, support, and community. Good education from the start is the key to more equal opportunities and participation for all children.”
What the amendment means for early childhood education in Saarland:
•Complete exemption from fees: From January 1, 2027, attending a daycare center in Saarland will be completely free of charge. This completes the gradual reduction of parental contributions and provides families with permanent financial relief.
•Better utilization of existing daycare places: Through so-called assurance agreements, youth welfare offices and daycare providers can work more closely together in the future to allocate free places to families more quickly. In addition, children who start school later for medical reasons can retain their daycare place through the management of the districts and receive targeted support.
•More reliability for families: The number of closure days will be gradually reduced. From the kindergarten year 2030/2031 onwards, a nationwide limit of 20 closure days per year will apply. Additionally, up to five educational days can be taken. This provides families with greater planning certainty while allowing the facilities sufficient time for their personnel and organizational planning.
•More skilled workers for day care centers: The recognition of qualified professionals will be expanded. In the future, qualified specialists with corresponding European social pedagogical degrees can also be more easily deployed in Saarland day care centers. This strengthens staff recruitment, reduces bureaucracy, and further develops work in multiprofessional teams.
•Quality remains assured: Despite greater flexibility in recruiting personnel, quality standards remain high. In the future, the personnel structure will be oriented towards qualification levels rather than individual occupational groups. The educational work is carried out by multiprofessional teams, in which at least two-thirds of the staff have a qualification at DQR level 6, for example as educators, childhood educators, or curative education nurses. Additionally, up to one-third of the educational staff can be employed with a qualification at DQR level 4, such as child carers, social assistants, or lateral entrants with pedagogical retraining.
•Better control and planning: New regulations on data transmission and cooperation between providers, youth welfare offices, and the state create more transparency and support needs-based planning of daycare places and funding, as well as the seamless transition from daycare to primary school
With the amendment, Saarland strengthens early childhood education as an important foundation for equal opportunities, social participation, and the compatibility of family and career. At the same time, families are relieved, the availability of childcare places is improved, and the professional staff base of the facilities is secured in the long term. With this, the state government is consistently continuing its course for strong daycares and the best educational opportunities from the very beginning. The parliamentary procedure for the amendment was initiated today with the first reading in the Saarland state parliament.
