Church and CDU: Shared responsibility for early childhood education!

Church and CDU: Shared responsibility for early childhood education!

In a current meeting between the CDU parliamentary group and leading representatives of the Catholic Church in North Rhine-Westphalia, central social and political issues were discussed. A clear focus of the discussions was the indispensable contribution of the churches in the area of ​​daycare centers. The CDU parliamentary group emphasized how important these denominational institutions are for society, as the Diocese of Trier reports. Marcus Klein, the parliamentary director of the CDU, agreed that the church's commitment to early childhood education plays a central role.

Numerous high-ranking church officials were present at the meeting, including Dr. Georg Bätzing, Bishop of Limburg, Dr. Karl-Heinz Wiesemann, Bishop of Speyer, and Dr. Ulrich von Plettenberg, Vicar General of Trier. Gordon Schnieder, the parliamentary group leader, and his colleagues also contributed their views, with Schnieder underlining the essential role of the churches in the community. His colleague Dr. Udo Markus Bentz described the exchange between church and politics as an important sign at a time when social tensions are increasing, as the Archdiocese of Paderborn notes.

Early childhood education and its challenges

A central topic of the discussion was the situation of Catholic daycare centers in North Rhine-Westphalia. Church representatives pointed to rising costs and a serious shortage of skilled workers, which poses major challenges for the institutions. At the same time, the CDU parliamentary group praised the state's efforts to take church institutions into account in the new hospital planning and confirmed that there had never before been so much investment in early childhood education.

The exchange also served to emphasize common interests in the well-being of people. For example, interdenominational religious education was highlighted as a positive example of successful cooperation. This teaching would not only strengthen ecumenical education, but also benefit social cohesion. One controversial topic that came up was abuse prevention. The wish here was to continue the dialogue and to remain in constant exchange in order to find common solutions.

Legal basis of child day care

In Germany, daycare centers are part of child and youth welfare, with basic legal frameworks existing at various levels. The legal right to support in day care centers for children aged one and over has been enshrined in law since 2013, which also includes Book VIII of the Social Security Code. According to the Federal Agency for Political Education, denominational providers such as Caritas or Diakonie are the most common providers in the private sector.

The CDU parliamentary group sees denominational institutions as an indispensable part of the education and care landscape in North Rhine-Westphalia. There is a desire to further develop the policy framework to better address the challenges facing institutions. Above all, the idea of ​​a trusting cooperation between church and politics in order to meet the increasing needs of society hovers over everything.