German education ministers add AI skills to school framework
Pupils in Germany should learn to use AI, check what it produces and understand how machine learning works. Teachers will get reflection cards and a chatbot guide.
The education ministers of Germany's states agreed on 16 October 2026 to add AI skills to their framework for what pupils learn about digital technology.
Both sources for this story are in German. The translations here are our own. The ministers meet as the Bildungsministerkonferenz, part of the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK). Its press release says pupils should understand AI and use it creatively and for a purpose. They should also judge its results critically and weigh its chances and risks.
The framework keeps its six existing areas and adds AI to them. Examples include spotting bias in AI output and labelling work made or edited with AI. Pupils should also learn how to deal with deepfakes. The framework itself says it follows the AI literacy framework of the OECD and the European Commission closely. Its area on algorithms covers the central ideas of machine learning and their limits.
For teachers in Germany, the press release lists support that is being prepared. It includes an interactive overview of the six areas and 22 reflection cards for schools. There will be a digital version of the cards and an AI skills guide in AIS.chat, a chatbot shared by the states. A KMK working group led by North Rhine-Westphalia is writing the material.
The framework is already on the KMK website. The support material will be published there after it has been presented at events. The press release gives no date for those events.
Sources
- Kultusministerkonferenz Was Schülerinnen und Schüler im Umgang mit KI können sollen
- Kultusministerkonferenz KMK-Kompetenzrahmen "Bildung in der digitalen Welt": Aktualisierung im Kontext Künstlicher Intelligenz (2026)