Call for major revision of financial support

The DGB, a confederation of trade unions, has called for wide-ranging reforms to Germany’s Bafög system, which financially supports students.

In a position paper published on 27 December 2018, the DGB said it is “completely unacceptable” that fewer than 13 per cent of the country’s 2.8 million students receive Bafög support, and that the amounts provided are not enough to enable recipients to concentrate fully on their studies.

The unions acknowledged the coalition government’s recently announced changes to the system, including a rise in funding planned for the end of 2019. But they said such efforts were not enough to make the system a success or keep pace with modern demands for lifelong learning and training.