Tübingen wants to charge standard fees for school and holiday childcare at all primary schools from the coming school year 2026/27 onwards. The reason for this is the legal right to all-day childcare. This requires new statutes.
According to a proposal for the local council, the city must adapt its current services to the new legal situation. Tübingen does not want to bear the costs alone in future. Parents are to be asked to contribute more, as personnel costs have risen significantly in recent years. For this reason, the fee structure for school childcare at municipal schools is being revised. Until now, large parts of the childcare services have been free of charge for parents, it continues.
School childcare in the city of Tübingen is intended to supplement the all-day school programme up to the maximum time frame of the legal entitlement to all-day care for primary school children. Currently, this is 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. The new regulations apply to children entering first grade in the next school year and, from 2029, to all primary school children. Voluntary early and late care will only be available if at least five children are registered by the registration deadline (15 March), according to the head of the relevant department, Holger Chemnitz, speaking to tuenews INTERNATIONAL.
Structure of school care services
There will be no major changes to the services currently on offer. Early care will be available from 7 a.m. at the earliest until the start of lessons. Lunchtime care covers the time from lunchtime until the start of afternoon care, afternoon lessons or the school’s all-day programme. Care is also planned for afternoons when school is not compulsory. Afternoon care can be extended until 5 p.m. at the latest. According to the statutes, hot lunches can only be booked with lunchtime supervision. Parents can choose the services according to weekdays.
Parents who do not register their children for full-day schooling are not entitled to parallel municipal childcare services. According to the administration’s plans, so-called half-day children must leave school at the end of regular lessons.
Holiday care in Tübingen
Paid holiday care is aimed at children who attend primary school in Tübingen in grades 1 to 4. It takes place on school holidays according to the Tübingen school holiday schedule at several locations in the city: one in the north of the city, one in the centre and one in the south.
Standard fees
Tübingen intends to revise the regulations governing fees for school childcare with a new statute. All municipal childcare services will then be subject to fees. This includes all services that do not take place within the time frame of an all-day school. According to the proposal submitted to the local council, this also includes lunchtime supervision for half-day pupils, even on days when regular afternoon lessons take place.
The fees are income-based. They are charged for ten months. The holiday months of August and September are free of charge. For example, early morning care will cost 15.87 euro, lunchtime care 23.81 euro and one hour of afternoon care also 15.87 euro. A family with three children and a low income who have their child looked after at school from early morning until late afternoon would therefore probably have to pay 43 euro per month.
The fee rates can be found on the Tübingen city website (www.tuebingen.de) as soon as they have been approved by the local council, which is expected to be in mid-December 2025. A fee calculator will also be available there, said department head Chemnitz to tuenews INTERNATIONAL. Incidentally, according to the administration’s current plans, families with the Tübingen KreisbonusCard and KreisbonusCard Extra will no longer be exempt from the fees. They will have to submit an application to the district office to have the costs covered.
Further information and content
Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs BW – Legal entitlement to all-day primary school care
SWR – All-day care for primary school pupils
GEW – Legal entitlement to full-day care
By Bernhard Kirschner
tun25112503