The Ministry of General Education and Vocational Training, Science, Research and Culture of the Land Schleswig-Holstein is responsible for 803 public schools in the Land.
Approximately 28.300 teachers teach about 378.700 students in Schleswig-Holstein’s educational institutions. Karin Prien is Minister of Education, State Secretaries are Dr. Dorit Stenke and Guido Wendt. The Ministry comprises three departments and has 227 employees. It is responsible for the Institute for Educational Development in Schools in Schleswig-Holstein (Institut für Qualitätsentwicklung an Schulen Schleswig-Holstein, IQSH), and for the supervision of secondary schools, comprising school inspectors in the 16 counties and metropolitan boroughs of the Land.
The ministry of Education, Science and Cultural Affairs gives educational and political guidance to schools in the Land Schleswig-Holstein. It handles the recruitment of personnel for schools.
In the context of educational politics, the Land Government has created an environment for a high quality and easily accessible range of schools. In August 2007, the first Gemeinschaftsschulen (a new type of comprehensive school) in Schleswig-Holstein were introduced. The introduction of whole day schooling to state schools will be extended accordingly.
Schleswig-Holstein's culture is diverse and attractive: there is a great variety of options ranging from museums and exhibitions through, libraries, and theatres to, concerts and events. By ensuring open access to culture, the Ministry wants as many people as possible to participate in and benefit from culture in all its forms and branches. The land itself is involved in cultural affairs, it runs cultural institutions and allocates project funding. Furthermore, the Ministry has the supervision of four subordinate authorities: "The State Archives", "State Archaeological Department", "State Office for Preservation of Monuments" and "The State Library of Schleswig-Holstein".
Schleswig-Holstein is one of the federal states with a high level of inclusive schools. Furthermore the Ministry of Education, Science and Cultural Affairs is working on increasing the conditions of children with and without disabilities learning together.
In order to give the young people a good start into their working lives, a sound, general education is provided, along with workshop days, training positions with employers, work experience in the economy, and direct contacts between schools and experts from trade, industry and administration. Promotion of the European vision for the educational system is achieved, among other things, by means of increased bilingual teaching, foreign language classes in primary schools and various partnerships with schools in the Baltic area.