Kultusminister Konferenz

Schriftgröße ändern

Zum Ändern der Schriftgröße verwenden Sie bitte die Funktionalität Ihres Browsers. Die Tastatur-Kurzbefehle lauten folgendermaßen:

[Strg]-[+] Schrift vergrößern
[Strg]-[-] Schrift verkleinern
[Strg]-[0] Schriftgröße zurücksetzen

schließen
 

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK)

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs is the oldest conference of ministers in Germany and plays a significant role as an instrument for the coordination and development of education in the country. It is a consortium of ministers responsible for education and schooling, institutes of higher education and research and cultural affairs, and in this capacity formulates the joint interests and objectives of all 16 federal states.

Establishment and composition

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany  is a consortium of the ministers or senators of the federal states responsible for education and schooling, institutes of higher education and research and cultural affairs.

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs was founded in 1948. On 19 and 20 February 1948, a Conference of German Ministers of Education was staged in the Hohenheim district of Stuttgart.  Before the end of the year, the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs from the three western zones of occupation agreed that their Conference should become a permanent institution. They constituted themselves as the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany and established a Secretariat to conduct their cooperation.

Following the reunification of Germany and the re-establishment of the federal states on the territory of the former German Democratic Republic, the states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia formally acceded to the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs on 7 December 1990. The whole of the City of Berlin, including its former East and West parts, has been represented in the Conference since reunification.

Tasks

The agenda of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs is to address “educational, higher education, research and cultural policy issues of supraregional significance with the aim of forming a joint view and intention and of providing representation for common objectives”.

Within the scope of their Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, the federal states assume self-coordinating responsibility for the country as a whole. They ensure the necessary measure of commonality in educational, research and cultural issues of cross-state significance. One of the essential duties of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs is to use consensus and cooperation as a vehicle for securing the highest achievable level of mobility for learners, students, teachers and those involved in academic research. It is also charged with the tasks of helping create equal living conditions across Germany and of representing and promoting the joint interests of the federal states in the field of culture.

It is an important instrument for asserting the joint interests of the federal states vis-à-vis the Federal Government, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OECD and the United Nations. The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs also has the task of presenting and advocating the common positions of the federal states in the fields of education, research and culture.

Organs and committees

Plenum

The Plenum is made up of the ministers or senators responsible for educational and cultural affairs in the 16 federal states. Each federal state has one vote in the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.

President

The President chairs the plenary sessions and acts as the external representative of the Conference.

Presidium

The Plenum elects a Presidium from amongst its members for each calendar year. The Presidium comprises the President, three Vice Presidents and up to two further (co-opted) members. The presidium prepares important plenary issues. In urgent cases and in questions which do not need to be addressed by the Plenum, it may take decisions on behalf of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs by adopting unanimous resolutions.

Chiefs of Staff Conference

Alongside the ministers, the Chiefs of Staff from the ministries involved also hold regular meetings. These are referred to as Chiefs of Staff Conferences. These conferences prepare for the deliberations to be undertaken by the Plenum and deal with matters that do not require discussion by the Plenum of Ministers. The Chiefs of Staff Conference is chaired by the Chief of Staff from the federal state (ministry) that provides the President of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.

Committees and commissions

The main committees of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and commissions set up to deal with important individual areas carry out preparatory work for decisions to be taken by the Plenum and the Chiefs of Staff Conference. The committees and commissions also facilitate the exchange of information and networking between the representatives of the federal states.

Main committees

  • School Committee and Sub-committee for Vocational Education and Training and Continuing Education and Training
  • Higher Education Committee and Sub-committee for Medicine at Institutions of Higher Education
  • Cultural Affairs Committee
  • Federal Government-Federal States Committee for Schools Abroad


Standing Commissions

  • Chiefs of Staff Commission for Quality Assurance in Schools
  • Chiefs of Staff Commission for Quality Assurance at Institutes of Higher Education
  • Commission for European and International Affairs
  • Commission for Statistics
  • Commission for Teacher Training
  • Sports Commission

Secretariat

The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. It focuses in particular on preparations for the meetings held by the Plenum, the committees and the commissions and deals with the evaluation and implementation of the results of the deliberations conducted by these bodies.

The Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs has offices in Berlin and Bonn and is headed by a General Secretary, who also has a Permanent Representative.

Pädagogischer Austauschdienst

The Pädagogischer Austauschdienst is the sole public organisation in Germany working on behalf of the Federal States to promote international exchange and cooperation in the school sector. The PAD is a department of the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. More information

Central Office for Foreign Education

The Central Office for Foreign Education is the Centre of Excellence of the federal states for the assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications in Germany. Its services are mainly used by institutes of higher education and government authorities for academic and vocational recognition procedures. Private individuals can also arrange for their higher education qualifications to be certified by the Central Office for Foreign Education, which issues notices of equivalence for certain non-academic occupations. The “anabin” database documents information on the foreign educational systems of 180 countries. More Information