Education package - apply for benefits for education and participation
Children, adolescents and young adults from families who receive social benefits or have a low income should be able to take advantage of school and leisure activities on an equal footing:
- Lunch
Assumption of the costs for a communal lunch at school or daycare centre
- Learning support
Assumption of the costs of private tuition for pupils if existing school programmes are not sufficient to achieve the main learning objectives (e.g. sufficient performance level, promotion, school-leaving certificate), regardless of whether there is a risk of promotion
- Learning materials (personal school supplies)
Allowance for learning materials (e.g. school bags, writing, arithmetic and drawing materials) in two instalments for the first half of the school year and for the second half of the school year
- Participation in sports, leisure and cultural activities
Contribution of €15 per month for- Sports and cultural activities (e.g. football club),
- Lessons in artistic subjects (e.g. music lessons) and comparable supervised cultural education activities and
- participation in camps (e.g. scout camps)
- Day trips and school trips
Assumption of costs for:- one-day excursions organised by the school or day-care centre
- school trips lasting several days organised by the school / day-care centre
- Travel costs for pupils
Assumption of transport costs to school
Responsible authority
The responsible contact person is
- the city administration if you live in a city district
- the district administration office if you live in a rural district
In some rural districts, municipal administrations fulfil the tasks.
Contact
Details
Prerequisite
- The family receives:
- Citizen's allowance
- Social assistance (subsistence assistance, basic income support in old age or in the event of reduced earning capacity)
- Child supplement
- Housing benefit
- Asylum seeker benefits (entitlement may exist)
In addition, an entitlement may arise if parents do not receive any of the aforementioned social benefits but are unable to cover the child's specific educational and participation needs (cases of so-called triggering of need).
- Child is under 25 years of age (does not apply to beneficiaries under SGB XII)
Exception: If participating in sports, leisure and cultural activities, the child must be under 18 years of age. - Child attends a general or vocational school
- Child does not receive a training allowance (does not apply to beneficiaries under SGB XII)
- for the assumption of lunch costs:
- School or day care centre provides lunch.
- Children or young people are under 25 years of age (does not apply to beneficiaries under SGB XII ).
- for the assumption of school transport costs:
- The child travels to the nearest school offering the chosen course of education.
- The costs are not covered elsewhere.
- for the application to cover the costs of private tuition:
- The school confirms the necessity.
- There are no comparable school programmes.
- The learning support must be appropriate and suitable for achieving the main learning objectives set out in the school regulations.
Procedure
Different procedures apply depending on which social benefit you receive.
Please contact your responsible office for further information.
Deadlines
Enquire with your responsible office in good time.
Required documents
- For the application for personal school supplies:
- School certificate
- For the application for benefits for school trips and school trips lasting several days:
- Confirmation of participation
- For the application for the assumption of costs for learning support:
- Confirmation from the school about the need for learning support
- For the application for the lump sum for participation in sports, cultural or other leisure activities:
- Proof of membership of a sports club, for example
The competent authority may request further documents.
Costs
none
Miscellaneous
If you receive Citizen's Allowance, the benefits for education and participation are applied for together with the application for Citizen's Allowance. This also applies to benefits that are intended to support your child's learning. If you require benefits in accordance with SGB XII, the benefits for education and participation must be applied for separately.
For one-day excursions, there is the option of collective billing via the schools.
You can also apply for a subsidy for music or sports equipment. However, you must always pay your own contribution.
Legal basis
Sozialgesetzbuch Zweites Buch (SGB II)
- § 28 Bedarf für Bildung und Teilhabe
Sozialgesetzbuch Zwölftes Buch (SGB XII)
- §§ 34, 34a Bedarfe für Bildung und Teilhabe
Bundeskindergeldgesetz (BKGG)
- § 6b Leistungen für Bildung und Teilhabe
Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz
- § 3 Grundleistungen
Release note
machine generated, based on the German release by: Wirtschaftsministerium Baden-Württemberg, 04.02.2026